Babar Azam smashes 6th ODI ton help Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 83 runs.
Azam and Malik led the way with the bat to see Pakistan take 1–0 lead in the one-day series.
The newly crowned ICC Champions Trophy winners Pakistan stamped their authority with bat and ball to defeat Sri Lanka by 83 runs in the first game of the one-day series played at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday. Sarfraz Ahmed were superb in the field as well as the side completed their fifth consecutive win on the bounce.
Babar Azam produced a sublime century to see Pakistan post a commanding total on the board. Shoaib Malik also played a good innings before Rumman Raees and Hasan Ali did the damage with the ball in hand.
Sri Lanka got off to a rampant start in the chase as openers added 30 runs in space of four overs. Dickwella was looking good but threw his wicket away as he edged a delivery behind the stumps to see Rumman claim his first wicket of the innings.
Dinesh Chandimal poor run of form in limited overs cricket continued as he was trapped right in front by Rumman to see Sri Lanka lose two wickets in no time. Kusal Mendis also could not produce anything as Hasan Ali dismissed to see Islanders in a spot of bother.
Lahiru Thiramanne was the only player who played well and scored 53 runs while the rest of the batting lineup gave their wickets away at regular intervals.
Akila Dhananjaya, Thisara Perera and Jeffery Vandersay also chipped in with runs but it was not enough as Sri Lanka could only manage 209 runs from 50 overs.
Earlier, Ahmed Shehzad was dismissed for a duck but Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman added 75 runs to build the innings. Zaman was his usual self as he scored a brisk 45 runs before he was cleaned up by Akila Dhananjaya to see Pakistan lose their second wicket.
Mohammad Hafeez played well as he scored 32 runs and added 49 runs with Azam to keep the scoreboard ticking along nicely. Hafeez was taken out by Jeffery Vandersay to see Shoaib Malik arrive to the crease with Pakistan placed at 124 for 3 after 27.6 overs.
Azam continued to be positive and brought up his half century. He added 139 runs with Shoaib Malik as the duo put the pressure back on the Sri Lankan bowlers. Azam went to score his sixth century of his career while Malik also chipped with valuable runs at the end to see Pakistan post 292 runs from 50 overs.
Shoaib Malik was named man of the match for 61-ball 81 runs against Sri Lanka. Pakistan have taken 1–0 in the series while Sri Lanka now have lost eight games in a row in limited overs cricket.
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