Pakistan cruised to an easy 67 run win over Sri Lanka in the 2nd ODI played at National Stadium, Karachi on Monday.
Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed won the toss and decided to bat first. Fakhar Zaman and Imam-UL- Haq got the hosts off to steady start playing with positive intent. At the end of 10 overs, both openers took Pakistan to 47 for 0.
After the power play overs, Fakhar and Imam UL Haq continued to play attacking strokes. Hasaranaga got the breakthrough for Sri Lanka as he dismissed Imam for 31. Pakistani openers added 73 runs for the opening wicket.
On the other hand, Fakhar Zaman reached his fifty off 57 balls. Babar Azam came to the crease and looked solid with his technique. Hasaranaga dismissed Fakhar Zaman for 54. Azam continued to show his class playing attacking strokes and putting pressure on Sri Lankan bowling line up. He reached his fifty off 55 balls. Haris Sohail gave Babar Azam good support and kept the scoreboard ticking along.
Azam made the batting look easy and reached his century off 97 balls. Thanks to run out, Sri Lanka got the breakthrough dismissing Haris Sohail for 40. Babar Azam and Haris Sohail added 111 runs for the 3rd wicket. Pakistani captain Sarfaraz Ahmed struggled to score runs to be dismissed for just 8. Lahiru Kumara got the wicket of centurion Babar Azam for 115. Iftikhar Ahmed came to the crease and scored a quickfire 32 off 20 balls to help Pakistan post 305 for 7 in 50 overs.
Chasing the target of 306 runs to win, Sri Lankan openers Gunathilaka and Samarawickrama added 18 runs for opening wicket before Mohammad Aamir and Usman Shinwari ripped the Sri Lankan batting line up to reduce them to 22 for 4. At the end of 10 overs, Sri Lanka was tottering at 28 for 4.
Avishka Fernando was also dismissed as Sri Lanka were struggling at 28 for 5. Dasun Shanaka and Shehan Jayasuriya steadied the Sri Lankan innings taking and hitting boundaries. It was an amazing batting display by both these batsmen who took on Pakistan bowlers. Shehan Jayasuriya reached his fifty off 72 balls while Dasun Shanka reached his fifty off 64 balls. The play was stopped twice due to floodlight failure.
As things looked dangerous for Pakistan, Usman Shinwari got the breakthrough dismissing Jayasuriya for a brilliant 96. Shehan Jayasuriya and Dasun Shanaka added 177 runs for the 6th wicket. Pakistan bowlers took rest of wickets in quick time to bowl out Sri Lanka for 238.
Pakistan 305 for 7 in 50 overs ( Babar Azam 115, Hasaranga 2/63) beat Sri Lanka 238 in 46.5 overs ( Shehan Jayasuriya 96, Dasun Shanaka 68, Usman Shiniwari 5/51) by 67 runs.
Pakistan takes a 1-0 lead in the 3 match ODI series. The third and final ODI will be played on 2nd October 2019.
