Mohammad Rizwan battled extreme cramps to smash an unbeaten century, whereas younger Abdullah Shafique hit a maiden ton as Pakistan scripted a world-record chase to edge out Sri Lanka by six wickets in a high-scoring ODI to proceed their profitable run within the World Cup in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
Rizwan paced his innings fantastically as he shared a match-winning 176-run stand for the third wicket with the 23-year-old Shafique (113) to first resurrect their chase of a stiff 345 after which added one other 95 runs with Saud Shakeel (31) as Pakistan romped residence in 48.2 overs.
This was the very best profitable run-chase within the historical past of the World Cup as Pakistan prolonged their profitable streak in opposition to Sri Lanka in World Cups to an amazing 8-0.
Eire had beforehand held the report for the very best run chase in ODI World Cups after they efficiently chased down 329 versus England in the course of the 2011 World Cup in India.
Opting to bat, Sri Lanka dished out a dominating batting efficiency to publish a difficult 344 for 9, constructed across the superlative a whole bunch by Kusal Mendis (122) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (108).
Sri Lanka then left Pakistan reeling at 37 for two in 7.2 overs with Dilshan Madushanka claiming each the wickets. Whereas a pull shot turned Imam-ul-Haq’s undoing, skipper Babar failed once more after attempting to play one down the legside.
Nonetheless, Shafique, taking part in solely his fifth ODI, confirmed nice maturity as he and Rizwan steadied the ship, citing the crew’s 100 within the nineteenth over.
Shafique, who changed Fakhar Zaman, and Rizwan appeared for harm management initially however slowly picked up tempo with the previous scoring his fifty off 58 balls.
Quickly, the 100-run stand between the 2 was up as Pakistan reached 138 for two on the midway mark with Sri Lanka desperately in search of a breakthrough.
Whereas Shafique deposited two sixes over midwicket and one straight down the bottom, Rizwan too produced an inside-out drive off Wellalage for 4 and one other reduce shot behind level to attain his fifty off 58 balls.
As soon as Shafique picked up his maiden ODI ton within the thirty second over, Rizwan smashed two sixes in two balls off Madhushanka to assist Pakistan cross the 200-mark and put it able of power.
A sensational diving catch by substitute Dushan Hemantha ended Shafique’s keep however Sri Lanka could not make use of the opening.
Needing 132 runs off 102 balls, Rizwan hit two fours and a six earlier than he fell down writhing in ache as a consequence of cramps. Regardless of the discomfort, the 31-year-old saved going and reached his third hundred within the forty second over.
Rizwan and Saud Shakeel (31) introduced the equation all the way down to 62 off 48 balls with Sri Lanka too lacking a couple of catches as 300 was up within the forty fourth over.
Rizwan clobbered a six over deep midwicket to take Pakistan nearer however Maheesh Theekshana dismissed Shakeel however it was too late by then.
Needing 20 off 18 balls, Iftikhar Ahmed then smashed three fours off Matheesha Pathirana to sprint the Islanders’ hopes.
Earlier, Mendis’ 77-ball 122-run knock was the quickest hundred by a Sri Lankan in World Cup historical past, whereas Samarawickrama picked up his maiden ODI ton with a 89-ball 108 because the islanders posted their highest World Cup whole in opposition to a Full Member.
The 28-year-old Mendis batted with absolute authority, clobbering six maximums and 14 fours. He starred in two 100-plus partnerships with Pathum Nissanka (51) and Samarawickrama to take Sri Lanka throughout the 200-mark within the twenty eighth over.
As soon as Mendis was dismissed, Samarawickrama took the onus and paced his innings fantastically, utilizing his cuts and drives as Sri Lanka saved accumulating runs with ease. He cracked 11 boundaries and two sixes in his 89-ball knock.
Nonetheless, Pakistan pulled issues again a bit on the back-end as Hasan Ali eliminated Charith Asalanka (3), Mohammad Nawaz eliminated Dhananjaya de Silva (25) and Afridi removed Dasun Shanaka (12) as Pakistan conceded simply 18 runs between 30 to 35 overs.
Samarawickrama held the innings collectively to maintain Sri Lanka on monitor. However with the pitch slowing down, Pakistan picked up two extra wickets to restrict them inside 350 in the long run.
For Pakistan, Hasan Ali (4/71) claimed 4 wickets and Haris Rauf (2/64) snapped two however general it was a poor outing for the bowling unit, particularly Shaheen Afridi (1/66 in 9 overs) and Shadab Khan (1/55 in 8 overs).
