Pakistan continued its unpredictable run-of form in the World Cup after hunting down a target of 345 runs, their highest ever in the World Cup, against Sri Lank to secure a 6-wicket victory in Hyderabad. Sri Lanka’s batters took advantage of an indisciplined bowling performance from the Pakistan bowlers to the headache of skipper Babar Azam, to put on the board a target that has been long overdue from them. Despite a dominating batting performance, Babar Azam and the management will have plenty to ponder in addressing their woes.
Sri Lanka failed to secure a victory despite putting up a 300+ score on the board for the second consecutive match, as their inexperienced bowling attack could not capitalize on an impressive show from their batters, as they leaked runs in the middle. Pakistan bowlers were equally guilty along with their sloppy fielding, which let Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama dictate terms in the first innings
Sri Lanka was put on the back foot in the second over after veteran Kusal Perera ended up edging one to the wicketkeeper while trying to slash Hasan Ali over point. Pakistan’s premier pacer bowler Shaheen Afridi did not have the ideal start with the ball, as he was hit for a boundary and six by Kusal Mendis which preceded a couple of wide balls. Even luck did not favor Shaheen as Imam Ul Haq dropped a catch of Kusal Mendis at point.
Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis took the run rate north of 6 while playing exquisite shots against an unusually blunt Pakistan bowling attack. Both batters got to their fifty, with Mendis looking dangerous amongst them. The much-needed breakthrough for Pakistan was provided by Shadab Khan, who dismissed Nissanka for 51. The wicket seemed to have no effect on the scoring rate, with the batters continuing their onslaught against Shadab and Haris Rauf.
Haris Rauf was punished for 20 runs in his over, the most expensive in his ODI career. Sadeera Samarawickrama was striking the ball sweetly batting at a strike rate of over 150. Kusal Mendis was batting on 94 and slogged Hasan Ali over long-on to complete a classic century in fine fashion – the fastest by a Sri Lankan in the World Cup. Mendis continued the onslaught, smashing Hasan Ali for two consecutive sixes, but got caught on the boundary trying to make it 3 in a row.
Charith Asalanka and Dhananjaya de Silva struggled to get going as reflected in Sri Lanka’s run rate. Sri Lanka was 283-4 at the 40-over mark, with Samarawickrama still batting they looked all set to stitch a score near 400. However, that was not meant to be as the Pakistan bowlers pulled things back giving away only 61 runs in the last 10 overs, while picking 9 wickets.
Sri Lanka definitely fell short by 30-40 runs, but considering that Pakistan has never chased down a target above 260 in the cricket World Cup, the islanders should’ve thought that would have been enough. Pathum Nissanka opened the bowling for Sri Lanka with his inswingers, who along with Madhushanka built pressure around the Pakistan openers. Madhusanka bore fruit for the tactical bowling as Imam Ul Haq skied a short ball straight to the hands of fine leg.
Skipper Babar Azam and Asad Shafique tried to keep the runs flowing with few boundary shots, however, Babar Azam’s poor run of form continued as he poked a wide delivery drifting down the leg side to the hands of the keeper scoring just 10 runs. Mohammed Rizwan joined Abdullah Shafique in the middle, just when the opponents thought they had the upper hand, but unfolded was a class on batting.
A lack of application from the Sri Lankan bowlers meant the batters were given plenty of scoring opportunities. Despite picking the wickets of two key batters of Pakistan inside the powerplay, Sri Lankan bowlers let the game slip away from their grasp. Shafique put up the highest score for a Pak batsman on debut in the World Cup, before being dismissed by Matheesha Pathirana thanks to a superhuman catch by substitute fielder Dushanta Hemanta.
Shafique’s dismissal did not apply brakes to Pakistan’s scoring rates, as Saud Shakeel and Mohammed Rizwan took charge against an inexperienced Sri Lankan bowling lineup. Rizwan fought debilitating cramps and got to his 3rd ODI hundred for Pakistan. Saud Shakeel fell to Theekshana, but Rizwan stayed unbeaten to take Pakistan past the target, their highest chase in World Cup cricket.
All credit to the boys, especially Abdullah and Rizwan, the way they built the partnership and put pressure on Sri Lanka. We weren’t up to the mark in the first 20-30 overs – Babar Azam
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam was having a chat during the post-match conference and admitted that their bowling performance in the first 20-30 overs was underwhelming while crediting Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama for their batting. Babar Azam was all praises for his batters Abdullah Sahfique and Mohammed Rizwan for stitching a well-oiled partnership and taking them past the finishing line.
“We finished well, all credit to the bowlers. (On Shafique) Very happy with the way he’s playing. This is his first World Cup. His hunger to play, I saw him in the nets so I decided to play him” said Babar Azam.
Babar Azam took time to thank the crowd in Hyderabad who’s been supportive of the Pakistan team ever since they landed to play the warm-up matches.
“The way Rizwan and Abdullah built the partnership, they helped us. We believed in and built partnerships. Thank you so much (Hyderabad crowd) for supporting us throughout the one and a half weeks” Babar added.
Pakistan will next play arch-rivals India on Saturday at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad.