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

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. Ashan Priyanjan 6. Angelo Mathews, 7. Nuwan Kulasekara 8. Kithuruwan Vithanage, 9. Sachitra Senanayake, 10. Suranga Lakmal, 11. Lasith Malinga,

Sri Lanka's intentions were clear after electing to bat first, with the batsmen looking to score off almost every delivery. However, Umar Gul ensured the early exchanges belonged to Pakistan. He struck in his first over with short and wide delivery which was cut by Perera (8) straight to a well-placed Misbah-ul-Haq at short cover, who took a sharp catch. Gul's returned in his next over - a wicket maiden - to remove dangerman Dilshan (8) with a wonderful one-two combination. If his first wicket was fortunate, his second certainly wan't as Dilshan, who had seen the first delivery of the over nip away and slip past his outside edge, shouldered arms to a ball that came in and bowled him for 8. At the other end, Junaid was bowling well but struggling to assert any control and had conceded a boundary off every one of his first four overs. His opening partner ensured Pakistan had the best of the mandatory powerplay after taking his and Pakistan's third wicket after Chandimal (5) drove a to Misbah to leave Sri Lanka 36/3 in the 8th over.

This brought 24-year-old debutant Ashan Priyanjan to the crease to join the experienced Kumar Sangakkara and he signalled his attacking intent by collecting three boundaries off Gul in the 10th over. The two batsmen ensured Sri Lanka were able to rebuild after a poor start and Ranjan brought up his 50 in the 28th over, off 67 balls with 7 boundaries. Sangakkara followed him to a 50 next ball, off 75 deliveries but the left-hander was run out in the next over after a sharp piece of fielding by the substitute fielder Anwar Ali, ending a partnership of 89 scored at a run rate of 4.13 and carrying Sri Lanka to 125/4.

Priyanjan was unperturbed by the run-out and hit Shahid Afridi for two fours in the next over but Pakistan subsequently snuck in some quiet overs by Hafeez and Gul in overs 31 to 35. Misbah brought Junaid Khan into the attack and it paid off immediately as Junaid bowled the well-set debutant for 74, the highest score by a debutant for Sri Lanka, trying to scoop a full delivery from middle stump. Sri Lanka opted to send in Nuwan Kulasekara at number seven and he joined Angelo Mathews but lasted only seven balls before being caught and bowled by Saeed Ajmal for one. Sri Lanka were 170/6 at the end of the 37th over and had lost two wickets in quick succession, leaving Mathews to carry his side to a respectable total on a flat Sharjah pitch.

Mathews (38) showed he wanted more than just a respectable total, slamming a wayward Junaid Khan for consecutive boundaries - a four and a six - in the next over but Ajmal struck twice in the 45th over to remove the Sri Lankan captain and Senanayake (0) in consecutive deliveries and end Sri Lanka's hopes of a total above 250, as they ended over on 210/8. Mathews was plumb lbw to a delivery that spun in from middle stump, and Senanayake missed a similar delivery altogether as the ball rattled the timbers.

Vithanage struck two fours off Ajmal, but Pakistan wrapped up the Sri Lankan innings as Junaid removed Vithanage for 27(26) in the 48th over and Malinga was stumped off Ajmal.

Sri Lanka slumped from a promising 165/4 to 225 all out in 12 overs as the Pakistani bowlers took wickets on a regular basis. Saeed Ajmal took four wickets, Gul three and Junaid two to give their sides' batsmen, who had not chased a score above 250 for over three years, a strong chance of securing the series.


Fall Of Wickets

1-15 Perera, 1.4 overs,
2-22 Dilshan, 3.2 overs,
3-36 Chandimal, 7.2 overs,
4-125 Sangakkara, 28.5 overs,
5-165 Priyanjan, 35.3 overs,
6-170 Kulasekara, 36.6 overs,
7-210 Mathews, 44.1 overs,
8-210 Senanayake, 44.2 overs,
9-225 Vithanage, 47.6 overs
10-225 Malinga, 48.5 overs

Pakistan started the chase off positively with openers Sharjeel Khan and Ahmed Shehzad both timing the ball well. The Sri Lankan bowling attack looked toothless from the onset as Kulasekara and Malinga failed to apply any sort of pressure. After 5 overs, Pakistan were well-placed at 31/0 when Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews brought himself on and bowled Sharjeel Khan on the very first ball of his spell.

Mohammad Hafeez was the new man in and continuing his sublime form in his ODI series, he took no time to settle in as he hit Lakmal for three FOURs in the same over. Both Hafeez and Shehzad continued to rotate the strike as the runs continued to flow for Pakistan. At the end of the 1st batting powerplay, Pakistan scored 57 runs, losing just the wicket of Sharjeel Khan. The momentum remained with Pakistan as Hafeez continued to play aggressively pulling Malinga in consecutive deliveries for SIX and FOUR, respectively. In an effort to change things around, Mathews introduced spin in the form of Senanayake in the 14th over of the innings. The result, however, was no different was as his opening over went for 14 runs, including two FOURs from Hafeez. At this stage, Pakistan were comfortably placed at 78/1 after 13 overs.

Shehzad and Hafeez kept the scoring ticking with the occasional boundary without taking any real risks. Hafeez had overtaken Shehzad and reached his 3rd ODI fifty of the series off just 38 balls. Batting nicely on 44, Shehzad tried to be cheeky and gave a straightforward catch to Lakmal. With Pakistan 115/2 in the 21st over, Sohaib Maqsood joined Mohammad Hafeez. While the boundaries had dried up, both batsmen continued to pick up singles and pushing hard for twos.

By now, Pakistan had progressed to 149/2 after 29 overs and Hafeez had moved on to 83. The runs started flowing again as Hafeez moved into the 90s courtesy of a 10-run over off of Senanayake's bowling. In the 34th over, requiring just four runs to get his 3rd ODI century of the series and become only the 2nd Pakistani to do so after Zaheer Abbas, Hafeez worked the ball down the legside to reach the milestone. On the other hand, Maqsood was well settled and started to go after the Sri Lankan bowlers, hitting Dilshan for a straight SIX as Pakistan were now within striking distance of their target of 226 at 180/2 after 34 overs.

With the mandatory batting powerplay in effect and only 41 runs to get, the equation could not have been simpler for Pakistan. Maqsood made full use of the opportunity and played some well timed and placed strokes during his innings of 46 not out. He hit the winning runs as Pakistan cruised to an eight-wicket victory in over Sri Lanka and won the ODI series.

Fall Of Wickets
1-31 Sharjeel, 5.1 overs
2-115 Shehzad, 20.2 overs

A disciplined bowling effort from Pakistan ensured that Sri Lankan batsmen never able to take control of the innings as they lost wickets at regular intervals. Saeed Ajmal finished with figures of 4/39 and Umar Gul with 3/37. In response, Pakistan had no trouble in chasing 226 on a courtesy of Mohammad Hafeez's innings of 113*.

Pakistan lead the series 3-1 and have won the ODI series.

Next Game:

5th ODI: Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Abu Dhabi on Friday 27 December 2013, 11:00 GMT.

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