Are Pakistan getting a middle order together?

Pakistan’s top three is outstanding, and the attack is potentially great, but the hole in the donut has been numbers four through seven. In this series, there have been mild awakenings in that area, however. No. 7 Shadab Khan has done the most to provide some heft through the middle – hitting a 39 off 50 as Pakistan were seriously ailing in the first ODI, before making a rousing 48 off 35 in the second match, as they chased 301 (he left the crease early at the start of the last over and as such, left the finishing to Naseem Shah, but his innings was vital). In the last match, Agha Salman provided an important 38 not out off 31, and even more importantly, Mohammad Rizwan made 67 off 79.

Are Pakistan still top-three dependent? Probably. But they do seem to have ended the series with more middle-order grit than they began it with.

Afghanistan have endured a (minor) humbling

Picking off lone wins against more-established opposition is not something the Afghanistan men’s team is happy with any longer. As such, losing 3-0 to Pakistan will leave a bruise.

There were moments in all three matches where they would have felt as if they were dominating. In the first ODI, they’d had Pakistan at 62 for 4, then bowled them out for 201 – a target they would have felt was well within their grasp, had Haris Rauf not ripped their batting open.

In the second match Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s superb run-a-ball 151 propelled Afghanistan to 300 for 5 (it probably should have been more), which is generally a hugely defendable total on Sri Lankan tracks.

Even in the third game, they kept Pakistan within reach by restricting them to 268 for 8, but the frailty of their own top order let them down.

In their previous ODI series, Afghanistan had defeated Bangladesh 2-1 in Chattogram. They’ve also won two of their last five completed matches against Sri Lanka.

The signs are there that the Afghanistan men’s team is on the cusp of something. But this series was a serious disappointment.

Babar Azam is coming in hot

In the final wash-up of Babar Azam’s career, scores of 53 off 66 and 60 off 86 will not be cause for serious reflection. But they are proof that he is putting in the work. Babar has spent most of the last two months batting on Sri Lankan decks, first in the Test series in June, then in the Lankan Premier League (in which he hit the only century and finished as second-highest run-getter), before these three matches. Although he will return to Pakistan to play some of his Asia Cup matches, there is no foreign player with as much recent form on Sri Lankan decks as he. Is he building to a crescendo? You wouldn’t count against it in the Asia Cup.

Can Gurbaz make the difference for Afghanistan?

Afghanistan’s big problem is the top order. Their only good total in this series was when Gurbaz fired. Like Babar, Gurbaz has plenty of experience on Sri Lankan decks, having played all four LPL seasons. As the Afghanistan men’s team are in a difficult group in the Asia Cup, with Bangladesh as well as Sri Lanka in the first stage, it’s worth mentioning that Gurbaz averages 58.6 in six innings against Bangladesh. Is he ready to take the next step in his career? Perhaps he could carry the Afghanistan top order with him.