Confident Pakistan target series win

Pakistan took a 1-0 lead with a 67-run victory in the second ODI against Sri Lanka on Monday.

KARACHI (Web Desk) – The third and final one-day international between Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be played in Karachi today (Wednesday) with home side eying a series win over a weak Sri Lankan team.

The first match of the series was washed out while Pakistan took a 1-0 lead with a comfortable 67-run victory in the second ODI versus Sri Lanka on Monday.

The home team would have been pleased with their clinical show in the second ODI. Babar Azam continued to compile tall scores and ended up with his 11th ODI century. Meanwhile, Usman Shinwari, who hadn t played an ODI since March, found movement and attacked the stumps to pick up a five-for.

Pakistan s batsmen also were able to adapt to the slow nature of the wicket. Azam, in particular, took his game to an elevated level by bisecting gaps at will. Iftikhar Ahmed, who mostly bats at number four for the Punjab in List A cricket, also showcased his skills with an aggressive hand lower down the order.

The hosts still have a few worries. Sarfaraz Ahmed, the Pakistan skipper, hasn t been in good form in the 50-over format. The wicketkeeper-batsman didn t exactly have a good time in the World Cup, finishing with only one fifty and eked out just eight runs while batting in the slog overs in the second ODI versus Sri Lanka.

The tourists, meanwhile, looked quite flat on the field. There were a string of misfields, with the stand-in skipper, Lahiru Thirimanne himself making a few errors. To make matters worse, the batting line-up crumbled as Sri Lanka slid to a pitiful 28 for 5 while chasing a sizeable 306.

However, there is usually a silver lining in defeat, and that came in the form of the 177-run stand between Shehan Jayasuriya and Dasun Shanaka for the sixth wicket to take the tourists to a score of some respectability. Jayasuriya and Shanaka, who have played only 11 and 21 ODIs respectively, would certainly take enough positives from the game. Just that for Sri Lanka to draw the bilateral rubber 1-1, they need more players to step up and contribute.

Squads:

Pakistan (possible): Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt. & wk), Asif Ali, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Usman Shinwari.

Sri Lanka (possible): Lahiru Thirimanne (capt.), Danushka Gunathilaka, Avishka Fernando, Sadeera Samarawickrama (wk), Oshada Fernando, Shehan Jayasuriya, Dasun Shanaka, Isuru Udana, Wanindu Hasaranga, Kasun Rajitha, Nuwan Pradeep.