মেন্ডিসের রেকর্ড ম্যাচে হোয়াইটওয়াশ এড়াল লঙ্কা

**Core answer**: Kusal Mendis scored a career-best 87* off 48 balls and became Sri Lanka's highest T20I run-scorer in the third T20I at Rawalpindi, as Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 8 wickets to avoid a series whitewash. **Key facts**: - Kusal Mendis made 87* off 48 balls, his career-best T20I score, and was named Player of the Match. - Mendis passed Pathum Nissanka's 2,784 runs (in 97 matches), reaching 2,791 T20I runs post-match. - Sahibzada Farhan was Player of the Series with 238 runs in 3 matches (average 79.33). - Pakistan's innings was top-heavy: Farhan 76 and Arafat Minhas 34* were the only double-digit scorers. - The third T20I was a dead rubber; Pakistan had already sealed the three-match series. **Source attribution**: Stage-2 deep professional analysis of "Lankans avoid whitewash in Mendis's record match" — source fields marked "data pending verification." **Related Q&A**: - Q: By how many runs did Kusal Mendis overtake Pathum Nissanka? A: By 7 runs, making the record a narrow, contestable margin. - Q: Who won the series? A: Pakistan won the three-match T20I series 2-1, with Sri Lanka winning only the final dead rubber. - Q: What was Pakistan's batting weakness? A: A fragile middle order — no Pakistan batter apart from Farhan and Minhas reached double digits.