Pakistan crush Sri Lanka to go 2-1 up in series
COLOMBO - Sarfraz Ahmed celebrated his promotion with a breezy 77 and leg-spinner Yasir Shah claimed a career-best 4-29 to help Pakistan crush Sri Lanka by 135 runs in the second one-day international and go 2-1 up in the five-match series.
Sarfraz and Mohammad Hafeez (54) struck fifties in Pakistan's consistent top order performance that powered the tourists to a strong 316-4 at the R Premadasa Stadium.
Sri Lanka needed significant partnerships to chase down the stiff total but barring Lahiru Thirimanne (56), none of the frontline batsmen could offer any resistance.
Further embarrassment awaited the hosts in the form of crowd trouble, which held play for nearly half an hour, forcing the players off the ground.
The trouble started in the stands before a rock was thrown into the playing area, prompting match officials to stop play.
Shah, who had tormented Sri Lanka in the preceding test series, mowed down their middle order as the home team folded for 181 in the 42nd over.
Ealier, after winning the toss and opting to bat, skipper Azhar Ali (49) added 93 runs with Ahmed Shehzad (44) to give Pakistan a flying start.
Both the openers fell short of their individual fifties but the subsequent batsmen ensured Pakistan did not suffer.
Banned from bowling for his illegal action, Hafeez proved he was good enough to play purely as a batsman, notching up his 26th ODI 50.
His partner in the 72-run third wicket stand Sarfraz celebrated his promotion to number four with an entertaining 74-ball knock that included seven boundaries and earned him the man-of-the-match award.
Down the order, Shoaib Malik (42 not out) and Mohammad Rizwan (35) helped them milk 93 runs of the last 10 overs to take Pakistan past the 300-mark.
Lasith Malinga conceded 21 runs in the final over of the innings to finish with a figure of 1-80, a true indication of Sri Lanka's bowling struggles on a flat pitch.
Both teams return to the same venue for the fourth one-dayer on Wednesday.
SCOREBOARD
Pakistan Innings A. Shehzad c Pathirana b Malinga 44 Az. Ali run out (Tharanga, T. Perera) 49 M. Hafeez c K. Perera b Pathirana 54 S. Ahmed run out (T. Perera) 77 S. Malik not out 42 M. Rizwan not out 35 Extras (b-4 lb-1 nb-2 w-8) 15 Total (for 4 wickets, 50 overs) 316 Fall of wickets: 1-93 A. Shehzad,2-124 Az. Ali,3-196 M. Hafeez,4-257 S. Ahmed Did not bat: I. Wasim, A. Ali, Y. Shah, R. Ali, M. Irfan Bowling A. Mathews 8 - 0 - 52 - 0 N. Pradeep 9 - 0 - 47 - 0(w-3) L. Malinga 10 - 0 - 80 - 1(nb-1) S. Pathirana 10 - 0 - 49 - 1(nb-1) T. Perera 10 - 0 - 63 - 0(w-4) T. Dilshan 3 - 0 - 20 - 0(w-1) Sri Lanka Innings K. Perera c S. Ahmed b An. Ali 20 T. Dilshan c Az. Ali b An. Ali 14 L. Thirimanne c S. Ahmed b R. Ali 56 U. Tharanga st S. Ahmed b Shah 16 A. Mathews c Malik b Shah 4 D. Chandimal b Wasim 18 T. Perera c An. Ali b Shah 12 M. Siriwardana run out (Malik, S. Ahmed) 2 S. Pathirana c An. Ali b Shah 19 L. Malinga b Wasim 6 N. Pradeep not out 3 Extras (b-4 lb-1 nb-1 w-5) 11 Total (all out, 41.1 overs) 181 Fall of wickets: 1-33 T. Dilshan,2-42 K. Perera,3-82 U. Tharanga,4-93 A. Mathews,5-130 D. Chandimal,6-142 L. Thirimanne,7-144 M. Siriwardana,8-170 T. Perera,9-172 S. Pathirana,10-181 L. Malinga Bowling M. Irfan 7 - 1 - 32 - 0(nb-1 w-1) An. Ali 5 - 0 - 24 - 2 R. Ali 7 - 0 - 35 - 1(w-2) S. Malik 5 - 0 - 28 - 0 Y. Shah 10 - 1 - 29 - 4(w-1) I. Wasim 7.1 - 0 - 28 - 2(w-1) Referees Umpire: Ian Gould Umpire: Raveendra Wimalasiri TV umpire: Rod Tucker Match referee: Javagal Srinath Result: Pakistan won by 135 runs -Reuters
