LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Opener Fakhar Zaman overcame a bruised knee and a lean run to score 127 and lead Pakistan past Sri Lanka by three wickets in the final of the one-day international cricket tri-series on Saturday.
Zaman’s entertaining 12th ODI hundred and man-of-the-series Arafat Minhas’ robust 61 off 31 balls took Pakistan to a winning 331-7 in 48.3 overs. The Sri Lanka bowlers found it hard to control the wet ball because of dew.
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Pakistan's Arafat Minhas plays a shot during the final of tri-series one-day international cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Pakistan's Interior Minister and Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board Mohsin Naqvi poses with the players of the Pakistan team, after Pakistan won by three wickets in the final of tri-series one-day international cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Sri Lanka's Pavan Rathnayake plays a shot during the final of tri-series one-day international cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis follows the ball after playing a shot during the final of tri-series one-day international cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Pakistan's Saad Baig plays a shot during the final of tri-series one-day international cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Pakistan's Fakhar Zaman celebrates after scoring a century during the final of tri-series one-day international cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Kamindu Mendis’ 131, his maiden ODI century, earlier propelled Sri Lanka to 325-8 while batting first for the first time in the tournament.
England was knocked out after losing three of its four games that included Sri Lanka’s second highest ever chase of 430 at Rawalpindi and Pakistan’s scintillating one-wicket win at Lahore.
Zaman came into the final with only 31 runs in his last four innings and spent most of the time in the dressing room after he injured his right knee while fielding.
Pakistan lost Maaz Sadaqat for 5 and Babar Azam for a five-ball duck, much to the disappointment of the 31,265 home fans at Gaddafi Stadium, but Zaman revived the chase with 19-year-old Saad Baig, who made 74 off 75 balls. They put up a better-than-a-run-a-ball 149-run partnership against scrappy Sri Lanka bowling and fielding.
Sri Lanka’s Maheesh Theekshana, making his first appearance in the tri-series, missed out on claiming Zaman on 69 and 106, when he couldn’t hold onto a return catch. Theekshana dropped Zaman again, a sitter on the boundary, after he reached his century off 84 balls.
Zaman’s 99-ball knock, including 11 fours and six sixes, finally ended in the 34th over when he was clean-bowled by Dilshan Madushanka with Pakistan still 106 runs from victory. Madushanka took 3-63.
The wet ball couldn’t help Sri Lanka as the young pair of Minhas and Hasan Nawaz (37 not out) kept their nerves in a 94-run stand by rotating the strike consistently.
Asitha Fernando, who conceded 72 runs, added to the drama by bagging the wickets of Minhas and Faheem Ashraf off successive balls with Pakistan needing two for victory. Skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi smashed Madushanka for a winning six over midwicket.
“We made a great comeback in the bowling in the last 10 overs,” Afridi said. “There was a collapse again (in batting) but Fakhar played a brilliant knock. I always say Fakhar scores in big games … Saad, Arafat, and Hasan Nawaz have all made crucial contributions which is good for Pakistan cricket.”
Kamindu Mendis and opening partner Avishka Fernando (38) gave Sri Lanka a solid start of 87 then Mendis and the in-form Pavan Rathnayake contributed another stand of 146 with brisk scoring in the middle overs.
Afridi trapped Mendis lbw off a fuller delivery in the 42nd over. His 128-ball knock featured 12 fours and two sixes. He consistently rotated the strike with Rathnayake, who was denied his third century in the tournament when he holed out to long-on in the 45th after scoring 77 off 65 balls.
Pakistan, without an unwell Shadab Khan, pulled Sri Lanka back in the death overs through the pace bowlers. Sri Lanka scored 87-6 in the final 10 overs as Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf all bagged two wickets each.
“We were short by 25-30 runs,” Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis said. “Our bowling unit did well in the powerplay (but) our mistakes in the fielding cost us which we need to work on moving forward. There are a lot of positives to take from this series … (and) there is room for improvement.”
See AP’s full cricket coverage here
Pakistan's Arafat Minhas plays a shot during the final of tri-series one-day international cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Pakistan's Interior Minister and Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board Mohsin Naqvi poses with the players of the Pakistan team, after Pakistan won by three wickets in the final of tri-series one-day international cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Sri Lanka's Pavan Rathnayake plays a shot during the final of tri-series one-day international cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis follows the ball after playing a shot during the final of tri-series one-day international cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Pakistan's Saad Baig plays a shot during the final of tri-series one-day international cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Pakistan's Fakhar Zaman celebrates after scoring a century during the final of tri-series one-day international cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Texas was not expected to be an epicenter of midterm elections that could reshape the final chapters of Donald Trump's second presidency.
But Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico are making final weekend blitzes in a tossup U.S. Senate race that has become one measure of voters' frustration with Trump's leadership and his party.
Paxton, the longtime state attorney general who defeated Republican Sen. John Cornyn earlier this year with Trump’s help, warned voters against restoring Democratic control of Capitol Hill.
“The left in this country keeps getting more and more radical,” Paxton said Saturday morning in Fort Worth. The election, he told his supporters, will “go down to the wire” and is about rejecting “every dangerous idea that Democrats across the country are putting forward right now.”
Talarico, a state lawmaker, was to rally support in Houston later Saturday.
The closing sprint in Texas comes as early voting nears its conclusion in several states. Early balloting totals were approaching 50 million heading into the weekend. About 112 million voted in total in the 2022 midterm elections.
The president was stepping away from in-person rallies Saturday in favor of virtual events. He was scheduled to call into six tele-rallies after spending the morning and early afternoon at the golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump’s MAGA Inc., super PAC said that telerallies were lined up for races in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Michigan and two separate calls for Florida. The White House released few details on what to expect, but the president generally participates in such calls — a departure from his rally speeches, which often stretch for 90-plus minutes.
“Answer your phones, and ENJOY!” Trump posted Saturday on his social media site.
The president has blitzed the closing weeks of October with rallies across the country, including in states he won comfortably in each of his three campaigns. On Sunday, Trump is set to hold rallies in Iowa and Kansas that were scheduled, pulled down and then rescheduled.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who would become speaker if Democrats win a House majority, was in Virginia's 2nd Congressional District campaigning with former Rep. Elaine Luria, who is in a rematch with Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans. Luria lost her seat to Kiggans four years ago.
“We're going to fight hard each and every day for an affordable America,” Jeffries said.
He hammered Republicans for filling a “graveyard of broken promises” and repeated his pledge to hold votes on reversing Republicans' healthcare cuts, pass sweeping voting rights laws and limit Trump's military actions on Iran.
“Beginning on day one, we're going to hold the crooks accountable,” he said, previewing aggressive oversight of the Trump administration. He specifically named Trump's Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, who has rankled Democrats and Republicans, among other actions, with his overhaul of military leadership and dismissals of top generals and other officers.
“In the majority, one of the first things we are going to do is run Pete Hegseth out of town,” Jeffries said, drawing perhaps the loudest roar of his 11-minute speech.
The southeast Virginia district is among the most competitive in a House battleground map. Democrats are targeting at least 60 seats. Trump won many of those by double digits in 2024.
House Speaker Mike Johnson answered in a Michigan tossup district with dystopian warnings about Democrats.
“It’s a spiritual battle,” the outspoken conservative Christian speaker said, suggesting Republican voters owe it to a higher power to vote.
“I know God does not hold us responsible for the results, but he does hold us responsible to be faithful in our duty,” Johnson said, as he framed Democrats as a godless party.
“These are Marxists, socialists, communists. It’s their ideology,” he said. “The communists, as you know, murdered tens of millions of innocent people in the 20th century alone. That is not who we are in America, and it will not happen on our watch.”
Paxton, beset by years of controversy but backed by Trump, has followed a similar script of dire warnings and again on Saturday cast Talarico as the frontman for a far-left agenda and Washington powerbrokers like Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York.
“I’m not exaggerating when I say, if we lose Texas, we lose America,” Paxton said. “That’s what we’re fighting for. This is our time, our moment to draw our line in the sand that generations of patriots drew before us.”
He urged Republicans to match enthusiastic early voting turnout from Democrats. Then he made one more entreaty.
“Pray for our Texas,” he said. “Pray for me.”
Trump has leaned into anti-Muslim rhetoric, focusing in particular on Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, who faces Republican Mike Rogers in one of this year's most competitive Senate races.
On Saturday, the president posted on social media an Islamophobic cartoon of a man with a flaming torch knocking on the door of the United States after setting fire to countries in Europe.
As enthusiastic as Democrats have been about their prospects, they are still having to navigate internal divisions in the Michigan Senate race for a seat they already hold.
El-Sayed and former primary rival Haley Stevens were expected to campaign together on Sunday with Rep. James Clyburn, but that is in doubt.
After Stevens renewed her criticism of El-Sayed, his campaign is no longer welcoming her to events, according to a person familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss internal matters.
However, Antjuan Seawright, an adviser for Clyburn, said the congressman was still inviting both to join him for church on Sunday morning.
Stevens and her spokesperson did not respond to texts asking whether she was still planning to attend. Stevens has been demanding that El-Sayed condemn an advertisement linking U.S. support for Israel to rising grocery prices and also address concerns about his past rhetoric that has concerned some Jewish voters. t
Republicans currently hold a 53-47 advantage in the Senate. Democrats need to pick up at least four new seats for a majority and would need at least five if they lose Michigan.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton pauses while speaking during a campaign event in Fort Worth, Texas, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Senate candidate and Texas state Rep. James Talarico speaks during a ''Clear Eyes, Full Hearts'' tour campaign rally at Aggie Park on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, in College Station, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Craft)
President Donald Trump departs after speaking at a campaign rally at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in Lubbock, Texas. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
