Sri Lanka has recorded a massive 77-run victory against Pakistan in the second ODI played at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota on Tuesday.
Pakistan chasing 311 lost Shejeel Khan in the fourth over, but Mohammad Hafeez (62), who hit a dazzling half-century that included eleven boundaries, six out of them came in his first 10 deliveries gave Pakistan a spectacular start. Ahmed Shehzad played the supporting act. He scored 56 runs that came off in 80 balls.
Hafeez- Shahzad took Pakistan to 114, but then the Sri Lankan spinners came into form. Seekkuge Prasanna, who was playing his first ODI since December flourished with the ball while Prasanna and Rangana Herath exploited the help in the surface to string together loads of dot balls to pile the pressure on Pakistan.
After a six-over spell in which only 16 runs were scored, the wickets duly arrived. Hafeez missed a straighter one from Prasanna and was lbw for 62.
Those wickets resulted in a galloping number of dot balls as Misbah-ul-Haq took time to settle and Shehzad couldn’t force the pace. By the 30th over, Pakistan had played out 100 scoreless deliveries.
It wasn’t yet game over as Fawad Alam was still battling, and no one can tell what Shahid Afridi will do. Afridi began with some powerful boundaries, and with the spinners bowled out, Sri Lanka will have just started worrying when he holed out for 17. The tail didn’t last too long and Sri Lanka wrapped up a 77-run victory.
Earlier, Sri Lanka batting first lost Tilakaratne Dilshan (13) and Kumar Sangakkara (11) inside 9 overs. Upul Tharanga (27) departed back to pavilion in the 11th over leaving hosts 3 down for 62.
Perera batted with the strike rate of 180.55 to score 65 off 36 balls. He hit 5 fours and 4 sixes.
*Photo Credit: AFP Photo
