Sri Lanka Playing XI vs Zimbabwe- Pakistan T20I Tri Series 2025, Match 5

Pakistan will be up against Zimbabwe in the fifth match of the T20I tri-series. This article provides details about Sri Lanka's Playing 11 vs Zimbabwe for the fifth match of the series.

Sri Lanka Playing XI vs Zimbabwe- Pakistan T20I Tri Series 2025, Match 5:

Openers: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk),

Former T20 World Cup winners Sri Lanka are in desperate need of a win in order to keep their hopes of winning the T20I tri-series in Pakistan, having lost both matches that they have played so far.

The Dasun Shanaka-led side will take on Zimbabwe in a do-or-die clash at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium and would want to get the better of them in order to open their account.

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Not only that, Sri Lanka will have to win by a big margin to get their net run rate, which has taken a heavy hit in the first two games, back on track.

For that to happen, they would bank on the batters to come good, as the failure of the batting department has been one of the major reasons for Sri Lanka's below-par performances both while batting first and while chasing.

The opening duo Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis will be entrusted to get the team off to a good start and provide a platform for the middle order batters to capatalize on.

Middle-order batsmen and all-rounders: Kamil Mishara, Kusal Perera, Dasun Shanaka (c), Janith Liyanage, Kamindu Mendis, Wanindu Hasaranga

In addition to the openers, the middle-order batters will also have to come good for Sri Lanka to increase their chances of winning the game.

Although the Lankan lions possess inexperience in their middle order with the likes of Kamil Mishara, Janith Liyanage, and Kamindu Mendis, a few games old in international all these batters have the potential to win the game for the team.

Other than youngsters, the Lankan middle order also has the experience of Kusal Perera and stand-in captain Dasun Shanaka to rely upon, both of whom will play a crucial role in helping the team create pressure on the opposition bowlers.

Despite having depth in the batting lineup, the bulk of the runs for the team will have to be scored by the top five batters for Sri Lanka to have a shot at winning the game.

Bowlers: Dushmantha Chameera, Eshan Malinga, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth

If we talk about the performance of Lanka's bowling performance in the first two matches, it started the series well by restricting the opposition to 162 runs while bowling first, and didn't have enough runs to play with against Pakistan.

Regardless of back-to-back losses, credit must be given to the Sri Lankan bowlers as they have done what they can and would want the batters to come to the party in the upcoming game.

However, there are still a few areas that they would like to improve, one of them being in the fast bowling department.

Dushmantha Chammera has done his job as the senior pacer but has lacked support from the other end, and it would be up to Eshan Malinga, who played the last game, to step up and deliver a strong performance.

In the spin bowling department, the lack of wickets from experienced spinner Wanindu Hasaranga has been a cause of concern for the team, and they would wish for him to get back among wickets

Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, the new kid on the block and the second spinner in the team, was impressive in the previous match but, like Hasaranga, also went wicketless, which he would like to get rid of in the next match.