After defeating Sri Lanka by a slim margin of six runs in the opening ODI in Rawalpindi, Pakistan took the lead in the ODI series thanks to a century from Salman Agha and four wickets from Haris Rauf. Hussain Talat’s 62 and Mohammad Nawaz’s rapid 36 not out were a great complement to Agha’s 105 not out as Pakistan concluded with 299 for 5. Sri Lanka got off to a strong start in the chase but steadily lost wickets as the innings went on. Even though Wanindu Hasaranga managed to score a valiant 59 off 52, Sri Lanka narrowly lost.
Pathum Nissanka and Kamil Mishara, the openers, put on a strong 89-run partnership to give Sri Lanka a strong start in the chase. Early opportunities were lost for Pakistan as Rauf failed to take a difficult one in his own over to relieve Mishara and Agha dropped Nissanka off Shaheen Afridi.
Yet Rauf soon undid Sri Lanka’s good start by bowling Kusal Mendis off consecutive deliveries and miscuing Mishara to mid-off. In the 14th over, Sri Lanka fell to 90/3 when Rauf caught Nissanka behind in his subsequent over. A promising collaboration was being formed between Sadeera Samarawickrama and Charith Asalanka until Rauf returned and caught the former off guard.
After a sluggish start, Asalanka put on a half-century stand before Mohammad Nawaz had the Sri Lankan captain out stumped for 32 after Janith Liyanage counterattacked. In the 33rd over, Sri Lanka was reduced to 191 for 6 as Liyanage hit a six off Naseem Shah, but he was bowled in the same over. In the 38th over, Faheem Ashraf had Kamindu Mendis drag one against the stumps, bringing the total down to 210/7.
Sri Lanka lost their ninth wicket when Chameera attempted to pull an Ashraf delivery but was only given a top edge, despite Wanindu Hasaranga’s efforts to carry the game deep and his important boundaries. Hasaranga hit two fours off Ashraf in the 47th over on his way to a 45-ball fifty, and he also got a boundary off Rauf. He needed 50 off the next five overs, but he reduced it to 23 off the final two overs. When he attempted to hit a full toss down the ground in the 49th over, however, Naseem caught him. When it came down to 9 off 2 balls in the final over, Theekshana continued to fight.
But after a dot and a couple, Pakistan managed to maintain composure and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series.
When Pakistan was called to bat earlier, they lost Saim Ayub and had a difficult start, scoring just 28 runs in the first ten overs. Although Sri Lanka lost both of their reviews fairly early, their disciplined bowling made sure Pakistan couldn’t get off to as fast a start as they would have liked. Fakhar Zaman attempted to relieve some of the pressure by hitting a six from Hasaranga, but he was quickly out stumped on 32 off 55. In the 24th over, Pakistan was at 95/4 when the legspinner trapped Mohammad Rizwan in front and bowled Babar Azam on 29 off 51.
In order to lay the groundwork for Pakistan’s impressive total, Agha and Talat then joined forces and performed a century-long cooperation. They took Pakistan past 200 in the 41st over by scoring several boundaries and rotating the bat effectively. After hitting his first ODI fifty, Talat was out lbw to Maheesh Theekshana shortly after. Just 17 runs were scored in the following three overs, and Pakistan was 240/5 at the end of the 44th over.
However, in the 48th over, Dushmantha Chameera was dismissed by Agha and Mohammad Nawaz, who also helped the Test captain get his second ODI century. With two fours off Chameera and a six off Asitha Fernando in the last over, Nawaz helped Pakistan reach just under 300 with 42 runs in the final three overs.
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