Pakistan captain Salman Agha played a quickfire knock of 45 off 12 in his side’s 14-run defeat to Sri Lanka.
Salman Agha's lone effort not enough in third T20I against Sri Lanka
Salman Agha won the toss in the third and last match of the T20I series, which was shortened due to rain to 12 overs per side, and fielded first in Dambulla. Sri Lanka came out firing, with all but two of their batters getting into 20s and beyond to post a healthy 160 on the board.
Kamil Mishara slammed 20 off 8, Kusal Mendis got 30 off 16, Dhananjaya de Silva scored 22 off 15, Charith Asalanka 21 off 13, Dasun Shanaka smashed 34 off just nine deliveries, while Janith Liyanage also got 22 runs off eight balls. Pakistan needed a similar team effort to overhaul the target and win the series.
But in a steep chase, only Salman Agha batted at a strike-rate of over 200 among batters who faced more than 10 deliveries. Coming out to bat at No.3 in the second over, he started with four, six and four to Eshan Malinga, and followed it up with three boundaries and a maximum against Maheesh Theekshana in the next over.
3rd T20I, Sri Lanka vs Pakistan
vs
- Ball by ball Over
He welcomed Matheesha Pathirana into the attack with a six over fine leg but fell on the very next delivery, trying a similar shot. His 12-ball 45 left Pakistan in a favourable position to chase down the total, needing 101 in a little over eight overs with eight wickets in hand. But from 60-2, they were soon reduced to 67-4 by the fifth over.
Though Mohammad Nawaz (28 off 15) and Khawaja Nafay (26 off 15) played handy knocks, there wasn’t enough support from the other batters as Pakistan fell 14 runs short. Wanindu Hasaranga was the star for Sri Lanka, picking up a four-wicket haul, as the hosts drew the series 1-1 after the second match was washed out due to rain.
Salman Agha’s 45 off 12 (strike-rate of 375), however, was the quickest 45-plus knock by a captain in T20I cricket and the second quickest in all T20. He also fell short of breaking Pakistan’s national record for the fastest T20I fifty. Shoaib Malik currently holds the record, having completed his half-century off 18 balls against Scotland in 2021.
Quickest 45-plus knocks by captains in T20I cricket
| Player | Runs | Balls Faced | 4s | 6s | Strike-rate | Opposition | Ground | Date |
| Salman Agha (Pakistan) | 45 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 375 | v Sri Lanka | Dambulla | 11-Jan-26 |
| Ramesh Satheesan (Romani) | 56* | 15 | 6 | 5 | 373.33 | v Serbia | Sofia | 26-Jun-21 |
| Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe) | 133* | 43 | 7 | 15 | 309.3 | v Gambia | Nairobi (Ruaraka) | 23-Oct-24 |
| Quinton de Kock (South Africa) | 65 | 22 | 2 | 8 | 295.45 | v England | Durban | 14-Feb-20 |
| Adil Butt (Eswatini) | 53 | 18 | 2 | 7 | 294.44 | v Mozambique | Malkerns | 12-Sep-25 |
| Mohammed Rizlan (Qatar) | 72* | 25 | 3 | 8 | 288 | v Singapore | Bangi | 23-Dec-22 |
| Sylvester Okpe (Nigeria) | 45* | 16 | 4 | 3 | 281.25 | v Botswana | Rwanda | 05-Dec-24 |
| Pedro Baron (Argentina) | 69* | 25 | 6 | 6 | 276 | v Mexico | Seropedica | 13-Oct-24 |
| Delray Rawlins (Bermuda) | 91 | 33 | 6 | 9 | 275.75 | v Argentina | Buenos Aires | 22-Feb-23 |
| Rohit Sharma (India) | 118 | 43 | 12 | 10 | 274.41 | v Sri Lanka | Indore | 22-Dec-17 |
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
