Fast bowlers Umar Gul and Mohammad Sami each took three wickets as Pakistan posted a comfortable six-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first one-day international in Pallekele.
Man-of-the-match Gul finished with 3 for 24 and Sami with 3 for 19 before Pakistan achieved a rain-revised target of 135 with more than seven overs to spare in the day-night match for a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
The duo helped Pakistan restrict the hosts to 8 for 135 in a match reduced to 42-overs-a-side due to the poor conditions.
Opener Mohammad Hafeez top-scored with 37, while Umar Akmal (36 not out) and skipper Misbah-ul-Haq (30) were the other main scorers as Pakistan recorded its ninth one-day win over Sri Lanka in their last 11 matches.
Misbah added 51 runs for the third wicket with Hafeez after two wickets had fallen for 27 and then 55 for the fourth with Akmal.
Pakistan's win was set up by bowlers in seaming conditions as Gul took three wickets in a sharp opening spell, removing skipper Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Dinesh Chandimal to send Sri Lanka reeling at 3 for 23.
He was superbly backed by Sami, who dismissed Kumar Sangakkara and all-rounder Angelo Mathews in his first two overs to reduce the hosts to 5 for 41.
Lahiru Thirimanne, who added 50 for the eighth wicket with Nuwan Kulasekara (18), top-scored for Sri Lanka with an unbeaten 42 while extras contributed 31, the second-highest of the innings.
Thisara Perera (17) and Upul Tharanga (10) were the other batsmen to reach double figures.
Sangakkara, who took 20 deliveries to open his account, made just nine runs before being trapped LBW, while Mathews was caught at first slip by Misbah for no score.
Off-spinner Hafeez bagged two of the last three wickets to finish with an impressive 2 for 20 off 10 overs.
Gul struck in his third over when he had opener Dilshan (5) caught by Saeed Ajmal at mid-on and then trapped Jayawardene (3) LBW in his next over.
He put more pressure on Sri Lanka when he bowled Chandimal for no score in his fifth over.
The second one-day international will also be played in Pallekele on Saturday and the last three matches in Colombo on June 13, 16 and 18.
A three-Test series begins on June 22.
AFP
Tags: cricket, sport, sri-lanka, pakistan First posted June 08, 2012 08:25:49
No comments:
Post a Comment