PAK VS WXI - 3rd T20I, World XI tour of Pakistan, 2017

History will size this series less as cricket and more as a renaissance, a compassionate feat led by the ever so courageous Faf du Plessis. Much kudos to him, Najam Sethi and everyone else involved for letting us witness cricket's histrionic return to Pakistan. We hope there's more to follow, and soon at that. With that hope, this is Pratyush Sinha waving goodbye on behalf of Vineet Anantharaman and Nagaraju. Take care, ta-ta!

Sarfraz gets the trophy from Najam Sethi. His teammates join in and they pose behind the 'Champions' board. Lovely scenes. And decibels.

Sarfraz - captain, Pakistan: My boys put in a fantastic effort. Babar Azam's innings was beyond appreciation. We got a good start. We've been working out because fitness has become important nowadays. So the fielding is improving too. We got run-outs today; the boys fielded better. We are a young team, so the effort is to build the confidence. Players should get a fair rope at the international level. There's talent in Pakistan, it's about getting opportunities. Thanks to the crowd, the security forces, the groundsman for preparing the high-scoring pitches. (translated from Urdu/Hindi)

Pakistan players now get their medallions from Mr. Sethi. "They are stars in the making," quips Rameez Raja on air.

Du Plessis - captain, World XI: "The series is a huge success. Cricket's come back to Pakistan. From our point of view, we thank everyone. Our team will get better (chuckles). Was a great competition; Pakistan are a very good side. It's not the Pakistan team that you can beat in the field (easily). They have the skills with the ball and their batting is also strong. Captaining World XI was great. It's a good bunch of guys. And it makes a week or ten days like this very enjoyable."

World XI players get their medallions now.

Azam - Player of the Series. Might speak later.

Harsha Bhogle: Hopefully the experience of staging these matches will lead to more in Pakistan. Important that fans see their heroes.

Shehzad - Player of the Match: "I didn't know of the record (of becoming the first Pakistani player to hit three consecutive sixes in T20Is). I failed to score good runs in the first two matches but today I decided to stay till the end - thinking if others can do it why not me?! - and it came very nicely. I have been working hard. I'd like to name Arthur; the coaching staff has been through thick and thin. That's what you want from them. I'd like to thank the crowd, the World XI; some of them want to come back. Cricket wins; we all love this game. As a nation, we have a lot of passion for the game."

"I'm over the moon," says Najam Sethi. And adds, "Mubarka, mubarka, mubarka!" Means congratulations in English. Such a huge achievement this series has for this man.

A lap of honour by the World XI. They have shunned tuk-tuks in favour of their feet, and rightly so to thank the crowd that's turned up to see cricket return to their homeland. Hang on for the presentations!

In contrast, World XI lost top-order wickets in a pile and only had Perera's cameo as a scare. Once David Miller was undone the ever so good Hasan Ali in the seventeenth over, the match looked done, if it didn't look like it already. Bailey and Sammy looked out of sorts with the bat, and that certainly didn't help World XI's cause.

10:28pm local: Pakistan are in a huddle here, jumping for joy. This is such a sight. Crowd's up on its feet, too. Arthur greets the players back with pats and hugs. 183 always looked big on this wicket. Started out playing well but it was difficult to put away the slower deliveries, as evidenced by Pakistan's batting struggle in the middle overs. But they kept on ticking the singles and set themselves up for a slam-bang finish, which they got.

Raees to Sammy, 1 run, Pakistan win the home T20I series 2-1! Sarfraz runs with a stump in hand, embraces follow. All Sammy could do was to nudge this to mid-wicket

We need 35 runs off 1 ball for a miracle

Raees to Sammy, FOUR, low full toss lofted through straightish long-on

Raees to Sammy, no run, drills a yorker on leg-stump. That ball - yes, yes, that yorker - had Pakistani genes. That good

Raees to Sammy, no run, waits with too much of room made and can't reach out at this slightly wide back of a length delivery outside off

Raees to Sammy, no run, almost loses his balance in trying to jam this yorker length delivery just outside the leg stump. 2 dot balls

Raees to Sammy, no run, full slower delivery outside off, Sammy doesn't connect. He's 19 off 18

Rumman Raees [3.0-1-15-1] is back into the attack