Colombo, Sep 14: After a two-hour delay due to rain, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first in the fifth game of the Super 4 stage of Asia Cup 2023 against Sri Lanka at the R. Premdasa Stadium, here on Wednesday.
At the end of 27.4 overs, Pakistan were 130/5, with Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, skipper Babar Azam, Mohammad Haris and Mohammad Nawaz back in the pavilion.
Zaman scored only 4 and was adjudged LBW to right- arm medium pacer Pramod Madushan.
Young Dunith Wellalage continued his fine form after superb show against India and claimed Babar. Pakistan skipper was stumped by keeper Kusal Mendis, after scoring a compact 29 in 35 balls, with three hits to the fence.
Abdullah Shafique (52 runs in 69 balls) was out caught by Madushan off Matheesha Pathirana. He looked the most comfortable Pakistani batter against the Lankan attack. Shafique rotated strike and scored rather freely with two boundaries and three sixes.
Haris (3 runs in 9 balls) was sent back by Pathirana, who had a caught and bold dismissal to his credit.
Mohammad Nawaz was bowled by spinner Maheesh Theeksana. He scored run-a-ball 12, with two boundaries.
The match started at 5.15 pm with each team scheduled to get 45 overs each. Powerplay overs was decided to be 9 overs.
Pakistan has had to make five changes in their playing XI. Zaman Khan gpt his maiden ODI cap while Imam-ul-Haq sat out with a back spasm, thus Fakhar Zaman got another chance. Saud Shakeel has a fever and was replaced by Abdullah Shafiq.
For Sri Lanka, Kusal Perera and Pramod Madushan were in for Dimuth Karunaratne and Kasun Rajitha.
“We will bat first. We are trying to put runs on the board and put pressure on them. Second innings, the pitch behaves differently,” Pakistan captain Babar Azam said.
Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka said he would have chosen to bowl first anyway. “We would have bowled first. There'll be more assistance for spinners. The way we batted, we had our chances but we couldn't capitalise," he added.
Playing XIs:
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Haris, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Zaman Khan
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis (wk), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka (c), Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Pramod Madushan, Matheesha Pathirana. (With IANS inputs)
