Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 5 wickets in 3rd ODI
Sri Lanka: 297/9
Pakistan: 299/5 (48.2/50 overs, target 298)
Pakistan won the match by 5 wickets with 10 balls remaining.
Sri Lanka’s tour of Pakistan’s 3rd ODI match took place in National Stadium, Karachi on the 2nd of October, 2019.
Sri Lanka while batting first scored a total of 297 runs at the loss 9 wickets after 50 overs. Pakistan successfully chased the target of 298 runs at the cost of 5 wickets in 48.2 overs.
Sri Lanka’s innings against Pakistan:
Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat first against the hosts. Sri Lanka sent Danushka Gunathilaka and Avishka Fernando to bat first. Avishka Fernando lost his wicket on just 4 runs at the start of the 3rd over to Mohammad Amir.
Danushka Gunathilaka scored his 2nd ODI hundred as he played an outstanding innings of 133 runs off 134 balls for 16 fours and a six. Sri Lanka’s captain Lahiru Thirimanne scored 36 off 53 balls contributing to a partnership of 88 runs with Danushka Gunithilaka.
Angelo Perera scored 13 runs while the debutant wicketkeeper-batsman, Minod Bhanuka scored 36 runs off 39 balls. Danushka Gunathilaka’s 133 runs along with Dasun Shanaka’s quick 43 off 24 towards the end for 5 fours and 2 sixes brought Sri Lanka cricket team’s total to 297 at the loss of 9 wickets after 50 overs.
Wahab Riaz proved to be a very expensive bowler against Sri Lanka as he conceded 81 runs for 1 wicket in his 10 overs. Shadab Khan, Usman Shinwari, and Mohammad Nawaz also took 1 wicket each for their team, while Mohammad Amir took 3 wickets for 50 runs against Sri Lanka.
Pakistan’s innings against Sri Lanka:
Pakistan required 298 runs off 50 overs to win the match. The team is not known for chasing big targets very often but today was a good day as Pakistan’s openers, Abid Ali and Fakhar Zaman provided the team with a solid foundation for chasing the target with their opening stand of 123 runs.
Fakhar Zaman scored 76 runs off 91 balls, scoring his 13th half-century in 46 innings, by hitting 7 fours and a six. Abid Ali who was playing his 4th ODI scored a quick half-century on 37 balls, as he finished on 74 runs off 67 balls after hitting 10 fours.
Babar Azam who scored a hundred in the previous match scored only 31 runs off 26 balls, while Pakistan’s wicketkeeper-batsman and Captain Sarfaraz Ahmed scored only 23 runs off 33 balls.
Haris Sohail’s sensible innings of 56 runs off 50 balls for 3 fours and a six secured a comfortable win for Pakistan. Haris Sohail played between the wickets, taking those ones and twos without taking unnecessary risks for his team towards the end. Iftikhar Ahmed ended the game as he remained not out after scoring 28 runs off 22 balls for his team. Pakistan won the match by 5 wickets with 10 balls remaining.
Sri Lanka’s Nuwan Pradeep took 2 wickets for 53 runs, while Lahiru Kumara, Wanindu Hasaranga, and Shehan Jayasuriya took 1 wicket each for their team.
Abid Ali was awarded the “Player of the Match” because of his performance with the bat, scoring 74 runs off 67 balls for 10 fours. The “Player of the Series” was awarded to Babar Azam for being the highest run-scorer of the series, as he scored 115 runs in the previous match and 31 runs in this match.
Pakistan has now sealed the 3 ODIs series in Karachi with 2-0, after the first match was abandoned due to rain. Sri Lanka will now play 3 T20Is in Lahore, starting from the 5th of October.
