An excellent all-round performance from Pakistan gave the hosts a comfortable victory in the 3rd ODI and they took a 2-1 lead in the five match series.

by Pakpassion Staff (22nd December 2013)

Toss: Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to field.

Teams:

Pakistan: 1. Sharjeel Khan, 2. Ahmed Shehzad, 3. Mohammad Hafeez, 4. Sohaib Maqsood, 5. Misbah-ul-Haq (c), 6. Umar Akmal (wk), 7. Shahid Afridi, 8. Bilawal Bhatti, 9. Umar Gul, 10. Junaid Khan, 11. Saeed Ajmal 

Sri Lanka: 1. Kusal Perera, 2. TM Dilshan, 3. Kumar Sangakkara, 4. Dinesh Chandimal, 5. Angelo Mathews, 6. Dimuth Karunaratne, 7. Thisara Perera, 8. Seekugge Prasanna, 9. Lasith Malinga, 10. Sachitra Senanayake, 11. Nuwan Kulasekara 

 

The big news from Sharjah was that Umar Gul came straight back into the playing XI following his recall to the squad, replacing Sohail Tanvir who proved expensive in the previous game. Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field first, having done well in both games batting second.

As in the previous game, Pakistan lost Sharjeel Khan early in the innings. The left-hander tried to put the ball away off his legs, but the ball moved away a touch and hit off stump. What followed was a period of consolidation by Hafeez and Shehzad as Pakistan scored just 18 from the first seven overs. In the next over, Hafeez walked down the track to Senanayake and drilled the ball straight back past the bowler - signalling a change of intent from the Pakistani batsmen.

A six from Shehzad followed by two consecutive boundaries off Perera got Pakistan going as they raced to 62/1 from 15 overs. The pair did well to rotate the strike between boundaries and it allowed them to keep the scoreboard ticking over and apply pressure on the Sri Lankans. A fantastic straight six by Shehzad off Prasanna brought up another half century for the young batsman off 54 balls, as he continued to cash in on his good form. Hafeez wasn't far behind as he reached his own 50 off 69 balls to leave Pakistan well placed on 127/1 after 26 overs.

The pair continued to attack - a top edged sweep for six by Hafeez brought up the 150 partnership but an outstanding bit of fielding from Lasith Malinga resulted in the end of Ahmed Shehzad for 81. Malinga picked up the ball in his follow through, saw Shehzad out of his crease and threw down the stumps at the non-strikers end to catch the batsman just short. It had no influence on Hafeez though, as two balls later he launched the ball on to the roof of the stadium. Sohaib Maqsood, another man in good form, began where he left off with a powerful drive through the covers. He followed it up with two sixes in three balls off Perera, but the bowler had the last laugh as Maqsood, looking for a repeat shot, could only hit the ball straight to long on.

Hafeez wasn't fazed by the wickets at the other end and continued on his merry way. He was joined by Misbah who went after the Sri Lankan bowlers straight away. Kulasekara was hit for four followed by a huge six in the 42nd over and another maximum followed off Perera in the next. Hafeez meanwhile reached an excellent century off 119 balls and celebrated with three consecutive boundaries off Lasith Malinga. Misbah was caught on the boundary with 5 overs to go - his knock of 40 off 26 balls was just what Pakistan needed.

Afridi couldn't continue his good batting form as he was cleaned up by Malinga but a fantastic flourish from Hafeez and Umar Akmal at the end took Pakistan to 326/5 from their 50 overs. A score which they felt was defendable, particularly with the return of Umar Gul.

Fall Of Wickets

1-2 (Sharjeel Khan, 2.6 ov),
2-162 (Ahmed Shehzad, 30.5 ov), 
3-200 (Sohaib Maqsood, 36.5 ov), 
4-275 (Misbah-ul-Haq, 45.2 ov), 
5-281 (Shahid Afridi, 46.4 ov)

 

Facing a stiff target, Sri Lanka needed a good start and Dilshan began well by taking consecutive boundaries from Junaid Khan's second over. It was Umar Gul though, on his return to the side, that put Sri Lanka on the back foot straight away. He first got Perera to drive uppishly to point, before inducing an edge from Karunaratne later in the same over. The classy Kumar Sangakarra showed what he was capable of by smashing Gul over long on for six, but Junaid Khan provided the crucial wicket by getting him to pull straight to mid-wicket. At 44/3 after nine overs, things were already looking bleak for the visitors.

Dilshan continued to attack and he took a liking to Bilawal Bhatti, taking three fours from the 21st over of the innings, but it was Afridi who struck the next blow. A short ball kept low and snuck under Dilshan's bat and the batsmen had to walk back after an aggressive 59. With the run rate climbing, the Sri Lankan batsmen weren't able to find the boundary off Pakistan's spin attack, and Chandimal was the next to fall as he looked to dig Sri Lanka out of a hole. Having scored 36, he looked for a big one off Hafeez and Maqsood took a good catch at deep square leg to send Sri Lanka further into the mire.

Saeed Ajmal then got in amongst the wickets and broke the record for the most international wickets in a calendar year by a Pakistani when he dismissed Kulasekara. The batsmen got an inside edge and Umar Akmal took an sharp catch. At this point the Sri Lankans decided to go for an all out attack. Prasanna smashed Ajmal over long off and followed it up with a four and a six off Hafeez. The bowler had the last laugh though as another big hit failed to clear Ajmal on the boundary to leave Sri Lanka on 163/7 after 34 overs. Angelo Mathews was undeterred however, and he hit another three sixes in the next two overs as he tried to salvage some sort of hope for his side. 

Perera was the next to fall largely thanks to an outstanding bit of fielding from Shahid Afridi. A short ball from Junaid Khan was top edged over the keeper and Afridi ran back and took a fine catch - evoking memories of his catch against New Zealand in the 2009 World T20 in England. Mathews finally fell too for 44, a top edged sweep comfortably taken by Umar Akmal before Umar Gul returned to the attack to clean up Malinga and end the game as Pakistan won convincingly by 113 runs.

Fall Of Wickets

1-17 (MDKJ Perera, 3.1 ov), 
2-17 (Karunaratne, 3.5 ov), 
3-44 (Sangakkara, 8.6 ov), 
4-103 (Dilshan, 21.3 ov), 
5-132 (Chandimal, 27.5 ov), 
6-136 (Kulasekara, 30.5 ov)
7-163 (Prasanna, 33.6 ov), 
8-187 (NLTC Perera, 37.2 ov), 
9-192 (Mathews, 38.6 ov),
10-213 (Malinga, 44.4 ov)
 

All in all, an excellent all-round performance from Pakistan as they showed what they are capable of if one of the top order can make a big score. Hafeez played fantastically well for his 140* and the others batted around him. Ahmed Shehzad is beginning to make his opportunities count and Misbah and Umar Akmal also played useful cameos. It was pleasing to see Umar Gul perform well on his comeback - it felt like Pakistan picked a strong XI today and it showed in their performance. They will be confident they can go on to win the series on the back of this performance.


Next Game:

4th ODI: Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Sharjah on Sunday 25 December 2013, 11:00 GMT.

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