'I was confident pre-tournament itself that he would deliver when needed.'
England's opening batsmen safely negotiated the final hour's play to close the third day of the third Test with Pakistan on 36 without loss, chasing 324 to win, after Azhar Ali's mammoth innings of 157 put the hosts in a dominant position in Dubai.
'Pathum Nissanka is easily one of the best batters to have come out of Sri Lanka in the recent past and he has delivered once again,' he tweeted with an applause emoji.
Pakistan scored 64 for no loss at tea after bowling Australia out for just 88 on day one of the second Test at Headingley on Wednesday, in a game they must win to draw the series.
They beat Zimbabwe by 68 runs in the opening match at Sharjah.
Australia set Pakistan a world record 440 to win the first Test at Lord's after they were dismissed for 334 in their second innings on the third day on Thursday.
Sri Lanka were 183 for three at the close on the fourth day of the third and final Test against Pakistan needing another 309 runs for victory.
Pakistan recovered from a terrible start to their day to complete a spirited victory in the fourth One-day International against England at Lord's on Monday.
Pakistan took command of the second Test against Australia on Monday, amassing a lead of 204 runs by close on the second day at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Replying to Australia's paltry first innings toal of 127, the tourists, who resumed the day on 14 without loss, were 331 for 9 when stumps were drawn for the day.
They made 286 in their allotted 50 overs and later bundled out the Kenyans for 143 in 31.4 overs.
Pakistan find their tournament in tatters
Pakistan completed a second Twenty20 victory over World Cup finalists Australia in as many days at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Tuesday. The Pakistanis, beaten by Australia in the World Cup semi-finals in the Caribbean this year, won by 11 runs after their 23-run win on Monday to clinch the two-match series.
The wickets proved to be mere consolation for Pakistan as Salt continued his onslaught and struck the winning runs in the 15th over, ending with 13 fours and three sixes in his 41-ball knock.
Daniel Vettori led from the front with both and ball and Grant Elliott sparkled with a gritty innings of 75 to help New Zealand outclass Pakistan by five wickets to enter the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in Johannesburg, on Saturday. Chasing 234 for victory, New Zealand kept losing wickets at regular intervals before the 104-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Elliott and Vettori, who made a quick 41 from 42 deliveries, sealed the deal in their favour.
Images from the Asia Cup final match between Pakistan and Bangladesh, being played in Mirpur
Pakistan regained the Asia Cup title after a gap of 12 years as they pulled off a nail-biting two run victory against Bangladesh who came agonisingly close to a historic triumph but ran out of steam in the dying moments to go past the target in Mirpur.
India captain Rohit Sharma on Wednesday urged his side to keep their focus on "things we can control" ahead of the mega World Cup clash against arch-rival Pakistan, having completed a dominating eight-wicket win over Afghanistan in New Delhi.
Nortje outdid a spell of his own against Bangladesh back in the 2022 tournament in Australia, where he took 4/10 runs.
Prabath Jayasuriya and Ramesh Mendis snared nine wickets between them
Just when things looked to go well for Pakistan, Shadab dropped Bhanuka Rajapaksa at long on off Haris.
Pakistan scrambled the 40 runs they required to beat Australia by three wickets in the second Test at Headingley on Saturday to level the series at 1-1.
James Anderson nearly got Abdullah caught behind on 64 but replays confirmed the ball had touched the ground before nestling in the glove of a diving Ollie Pope.
'I try to solve the problem that is there in front of me. I know it's a cliched answer...but I was trying to focus on what is the best option over here on a wicket like this.'
Having taken a 78-run lead in the runfest, England declared their second innings on 264-7 to set Pakistan an improbable victory target of 343 with four sessions to go.
Pakistan posted 347 for 5 and then restricted the visitors to 243 for 7 in 50 overs.
Hasan Mahmud grabbed the spotlight with a three-wicket burst in the first session, which rocked a famed batting line-up comprising heavyweights Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill.
IMAGES from the Women's T20 World Cup match between India and Australia in Sharjah on Sunday
Pakistan recalled left-handed opener Salman Butt in place of Imran Nazir while India picked in-form Gautam Gambhir ahead of the experienced Virender Sehwag.
Both the spinners shared six wickets between them in England's first innings which ended at 219 in 70.3 overs. The duo bowled just 21.3 overs in the first innings.
Light rain delayed the start of the tri-series final between India and Pakistan at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Saturday.
Pakistan produced a clinical display to beat Sri Lanka by six wickets and storm into the final of the Asia Cup. Their second successive victory put them in the final of the tournament for the first time in 12 years.
England opener Alastair Cook ended a dismal run of form with an untypically aggressive 110, but England were 221 for 9, 146 runs ahead, in their second innings when bad light stopped play on the third day of the third Test against Pakistan.
It was the highest run chase in men's T20 cricket without losing a wicket.
England clinched the series 4-3 in a major boost ahead of the World Cup.
Pakistan looked in the hunt before being all out for 328 in the second session on day four of the contest.
Pakistan openers Salman Butt and Nasir Jamshed produced an unbroken century partnership to set up a comprehensive 10-wicket win over Bangladesh in the final Asia Cup super league match on Friday. Butt scored 56 and Jamshed reached 52 as the two left-handers easily overtook the Bangladesh total of 115 in only 19.4 overs.
Dashing opener Shafali Verma smashed 81 off 48 to power India to 178 for 3.
Runaway Rohit roars back into form ahead of semis
South Africa easily chased down Pakistan's 230 for nine with 74 balls to spare to leave the series tied at 2-2 with the final game to be played in Lahore on Monday.
Pakistan take a 3-2 lead in the seven-match series.
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