RAWALPINDI: Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 37 runs at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Sunday to open their one-day international (ODI) tri-series campaign with a victory.
Salman Ali Agha led the hosts with 107 off 90 balls, while captain Shaheen Shah Afridi took three wickets. Agha earned the player-of-the-match award for his fourth ODI century.
Pakistan posted 305 in 49.5 overs after being asked to bat first. Sri Lanka finished on 268 in 48.1 overs, losing their final five wickets for 15 runs. England completed the lineup in the three-team competition.
Afridi returned figures of three wickets for 55 runs from 10 overs. Meanwhile, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf and Faheem Ashraf took two wickets apiece.
Sri Lanka slipped to 91 for four after Afridi dismissed Kamindu Mendis and Sahan Arachchige. However, Pavan Rathnayake and Janith Liyanage restored the chase with a 119-run fifth-wicket partnership.
Rathnayake struck six fours and two sixes in his 79 from 74, before Ashraf broke the stand. Liyanage then partnered with Dasun Shanaka to add another 43.
Rauf dismissed Liyanage for 60 from 74 balls, and Afridi removed Shanaka for 28 from 18 deliveries. Pakistan subsequently worked through the lower order, with Rauf bowling Asitha Fernando to end the match.
Earlier, Dilshan Madushanka dismissed both Pakistan openers as the hosts fell to 32 for two. Babar Azam and debutant Saad Baig steadied the innings with a 74-run partnership. Azam made 45, and Baig 39, before Eshan Malinga dismissed both.
Agha rebuilt with Hasan Nawaz in a 97-run fifth-wicket stand. Nawaz scored 37, while Arafat Minhas later added 18 off 15 balls in a 64-run partnership with the centurion.
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Agha’s innings included 10 fours and a six. Although Sri Lanka took wickets late, Afridi’s unbeaten 13 helped Pakistan pass 300.
Malinga finished with four wickets for 46 runs from 9.5 overs. Asitha Fernando took three wickets, and Madushanka collected two.
Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis acknowledged that they faced too many dot balls during the powerplay. “We have to learn a couple of things,” he said.
Pakistan next face England at the same venue on October 20.
(With input from Cricbuzz)
