• Pakistan pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Faheem Ashraf and Haris Rauf took all 10 wickets
• Salman Ali Agha struck his fourth ODI century; Debutant Saad Baig scored 39 and grabbed two catches behind stumps
Pakistan got off the mark in the One-Day International tri series with a 37-run win over Sri Lanka in the opening match after they successfully defended their 305-run total here at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Sunday night.
After Salman Ali Agha’s superb 107 off 90 balls took Pakistan to a healthy total, the pace attack – led by captain Shaheen Shah Afridi – eked out all 10 Sri Lankan wickets despite a match-threatening 119-run stand for the fifth wicket between Janith Liyanage and Pavan Rathnayake.
Pakistan will now face England on Tuesday, while Sri Lanka will also be up against the same opposition on 22 October before the action moves to Lahore.
On Sunday, Kusal Mendis won the toss and opted to bowl first. Pacer Dilshan Madushanka removed Pakistan openers Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub within the first 5.5 overs before debutant Saad Baig and Babar Azam built a 74-run stand to put the innings on course.
During the course of his 57-ball 45-run (6x4s) knock, Babar Azam also reached the 16,000-run mark in international cricket, becoming just the fifth batter besides Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and Javed Miandad to reach this milestone.
Saad, who became the 262nd men’s player to represent Pakistan in ODIs, looked fluent in his 40-ball stay at the crease which yielded 39 runs with the help of three fours and two sixes. Saad and Babar both fell to Eshan Malinga in 20th and 22nd overs as Sri Lanka struck back.
It was at this juncture that centurion and player of the match Salman joined forces with Hasan Nawaz to put on 97 runs for the fifth wicket off just 94 balls. Hasan fell after scoring 37 off 49 balls and hit two fours as many sixes.
Salman reached his century in the 45th over with a boundary off 82 balls before falling to Asitha Fernando as Sri Lanka struck back in the last five overs, giving away just 26 runs for fours wickets. Eshan picked up four for 46, Asitha Fernando had three and Madushanka removed two batters.
In reply, Pakistan pacers hit the ground running as Naseem Shah provided the first breakthrough removing Avishka Fernando for five, Faheem Ashraf got rid of Kusal Mendis for 18, meanwhile Kamindu Mendis (44, 50b, 4x4s) and Sahan Arachchige fell to Shaheen as Sri Lanka slipped to 91-4 in 19.3 overs.
Rathnayake (79, 74b, 6x4s, 2x6s) and Liyanage (60, 74b, 5x4s) then put on a strong show with a century partnership and threatened to take the game away from Pakistan. Sri Lanka required 96 off the last 13 overs when Pakistan finally struck with Faheem removing Rathnayake.
From this moment onwards, Pakistan ran riot taking five for 15 as Sri Lanka’s chase was derailed with the visitors getting bowled out for 268 with 11 balls to spare. Shaheen returned figures of three for 55, while Naseem, Haris and Faheem all took two wickets each.
Scores in brief
Match 1 – Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 37 runs at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium
Pakistan 305 all out, 49.5 overs (Salman Ali Agha 107, Babar Azam 45, Saad Baig 39, Hasan Nawaz 37; Eshan Malinga 4-46, Asitha Fernando 3-59, Dilshan Madushanka 2-67)
Sri Lanka 268 all out, 48.1 overs (Pavan Rathnayake 79, Janith Liyanage 60, 44, Dasun Shanaka 28; Shaheen Shah Afridi 3-55, Naseem Shah 2-43, Haris Rauf 2-48, Faheem Ashraf 2-49)
Player of the match – Salman Ali Agha (Pakistan)