Hesson backs Pakistan to find best form in Saturday's final

Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson said his side have not yet played their best cricket in the ongoing one-day international tri-series and expects them to find it in Saturday's final against Sri Lanka at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

ARY News reported that the final will begin at 1pm local time, with the toss at 12.30pm. The series also involves England.

Pakistan were the first team to qualify for the final, winning three matches in a row. They beat Sri Lanka by 37 runs and England by 87 runs, both at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, then won by one wicket at the Gaddafi Stadium on Shadab Khan's maiden ODI century. In their last league fixture, at the same venue, Sri Lanka beat them by eight wickets.

The squad returned to training at the LCCA Ground in Lahore after a day's rest. Speaking there, Hesson said: "It's been a pretty good couple of weeks. We have played some decent cricket without being perfect. To get three wins in a row without contributions from a few of our key players is a good sign."

He added: "I still don't think we have played our best game yet. Hopefully, we are saving that for the final."

On the batting, Hesson said Pakistan's top three contain "two of the greatest players in Pakistan's history" and that he expects senior players to stand up in a big game. "The fact that we have been able to achieve the wins that we have without the top order performing as well as we know they are capable of is a good sign," he said. "A couple of our key players are searching for that match-winning performance and there's no better place to do it than in a final."

He said Shaheen Shah Afridi "continues to take top-order wickets for us, which is critical", and that Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf had both bowled well at times. He described Arafat Minhas as a young player who is continuing to develop.

Minute Mirror, which reported the interview as given to Geo News, also quoted Hesson praising Salman Ali Agha's middle-order performances, noting Hassan Nawaz's steady improvement with the bat, and thanking spectators in Lahore and Rawalpindi for their support through the series.

The two outlets gave different settings for the same remarks: ARY News reported they were made to PCB Digital during the training session, while Minute Mirror said the interview was with Geo News.

ARY News reported that since Hesson took charge as Pakistan's white-ball coach last year, the side have won 12 of 19 ODIs and lost seven, with series wins over Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa in that period.

Hesson conceded that Pakistan's batting in the league defeat to Sri Lanka had fallen short of expectations, but said he was confident of a strong response in the final.