Hyderabad, Oct 10: In the battle of two formidable Asian sides on Tuesday, Sri Lanka set a fighting 345 target before Pakistan in the 8th match of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, here on Tuesday.
In reply, Pakistan were 120/2 in 21 overs. Imam-ul-Haq was the first to go. He made 12 before falling a victim to right arm pacer Dilshan Madhushanka. Skipper Babar Azam too departed early with only a small contribution of 10 runs.
Electing to bat first, Sri Lanka scored 344/9 in the allotted 50 overs with Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama crossing three figure marks.
Lanka suffered initial shock with opener Kusal Perera being caught by keeper Mohd Rizwan off pacer Hasan Ali for a duck.
But then Pathum Nissanka and keeper Kusal Mendis ensured that there was no quick damage to the Lankan innings again. The two batted sensibly trying to rebuild and put a good score on board.
Nissanka departed scoring 51 in 61 balls. Mendis continued well and scored 100 in 65 balls. But after a few overs, Mendis was out for 122.
Then there was some hiccups. Charath Asalanka could manage only 1, sent back caught behind by Rizwan off Hasan Ali. Dhananjay de Silva too returned back after an individual contribution of 25.
However, Lanka's new rescue-man Sadeera Samarawickrama batted with maturity and controlled aggression to take them past the 300-mark. He scored his maiden World Cup ton in 82 balls.
Trying to improvise, Sadeera edged one to keeper Rizwan and was out for 108. But by then, he has ensured that Lankans set a good fighting total before Pakistan.
For Pakistan, pacer Hasan Ali had the best bowling figure of 4 for 71. The other two Pakistani fast bowlers Haris Rauf (2/64) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (1/66) also had their share of success. Spinners duo Mohd Nawaz and Shadab Khan got one wicket each.
