Abid Ali & Fakhar Zaman Lead Pakistan to a 2-0 Series Win Against Sri Lanka

One-Day cricket has finally returned to Pakistan and Sarfaraz XI has marked the resumption with a thumping series win against Sri Lanka.

Thanks to some brilliant batting performances from Fakhar Zaman, Abid Ali and Haris Sohail, Pakistan aced their biggest chase in the last 3 years.

Impressive century for Sri Lankan opener, Danushka Gunathilaka went in vain as the bowlers failed to defend a competitive total of 297.

Here’s how the match went down:

• Venue: National Stadium, Karachi
• Time: 3:00 pm PST
• Toss: Sri Lanka, elected to bat first

1st Innings

After an early breakthrough for Mohammad Amir, opener Gunathilaka and captain Lahiru Thirmianne played some brilliant strokes, pushing Pakistan on the back foot. The left-handed opener smashed 133 from 134 balls before being bowled out by Amir.

It looked like Sri Lanka would easily post a 300+ total, however, Pakistani bowlers brought the team back in the contest. Late fireworks from Dasun Shanaka, the T20I captain for the upcoming series, ensured that Sri Lanka finished near the 300 runs marks.

Wahab Riaz got plenty of hammering, conceding 81 runs in his 10 overs. Amir picked up 3 wickets for 50 runs.

2nd Innings

Pakistani batsmen went about the chase in a positive manner as openers, Abid Ali and Fakhar Zaman added 123 runs for the first wicket. Abid was particularly impressed with his stroke play and shot selection as he amassed 74 from 67 balls.

Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman’s wickets in quick succession made things slightly tense for Pakistan especially after Sarfaraz Ahmed also failed to get going. Haris Sohail, however, made sure that his team crossed the line with ease, despite getting out cheaply with 11 runs needed to win.

Summary

Pakistan won by 5 wickets with 10 balls remaining to clinch the series 2-0.

Sri Lanka: 297/9 (50 Overs, RR: 5.94)

• Danushka Gunathilaka 133 (134)
• Mohammad Amir 3/50 (10)

Pakistan 299/5 (48.2 Overs, RR: 6.18)

• Fakhar Zaman 76 (91)
• Nuwan Pradeep 2/53 (9.2)

Next up is the first T20I in Lahore on Saturday, 5th October at 6:30 pm.

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