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28 March 2024

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka 4th ODI in Abu Dhabi: Hafeez steers Pakistan to series win

Published
By Cricket Correspondent

Pakistan powered by another solid century from Mohammad Hafeez romped to an eight-wicket victory in the fourth one-day international against Sri Lanka at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

Hafeez made a spectacular return to form by notching his third century of the series as Pakistan took an unassailable 3-1 series lead with one match to be played at the same venue on Friday.

After restricting Sri Lanka to 225, Pakistan coasted home with nearly eight overs to spare making 226-2 in 41.1 overs in a lopsided contest.

Hafeez remained unconquered on 113 off 119 balls, an innings which contained 12 fours and two sixes.

Shehzad figured in a 84-run stand for the second wicket with Hafeez while Maqsood remained unbeaten on
46 off 56 hitting four boundaries and a six.

The only thing which seemed to go right for Sri Lanka was when skipper Angelo Mathews won the toss and opted to bat first.

There was nothing wrong with that decision except for the fact that apart from debutant Ashan Priyanjan (74), Kumara Sangakkara (51), Mathews (38) and Vithanage (27), Sri Lanka's top order failed to fire.

They were decimated by Umar Gul who claimed three for 37 while Ajmal cleaned up the lower order snaring four for 39.

When Pakistan began the run chase, Mathews lifted Sri Lanka's hopes by castling Sharjeel Khan with his first delivery.

But their joy was shortlived as Hafeez steered Pakistan to an easy victory.

PAKISTAN INNINGS

Maqsood punches Lakmal through the covers for a boundary as Pakistan are racing to victory. Pak 185-2 in 35 overs.

Dilshan goes for 13 in his second over as Maqsood also hammers him a for a six. Pak 180-2 in 34 overs.

Hafeez hits a boundary off Dilshan to complete his ninth ODI century and third of the series, the sixth batsman to achieve this feat in a bilateral ODI series.

His century which came off 98 balls contained 12 fours and two sixes.

Hafeez slams a couple of boundaries off Vithanage's first over to move to 92. Pak 159-2 in 30 overs.

Hafeez completes 4,000 ODI runs with a single off Lakmal. Pak 117-2 in 21 overs.

Lakmal strikes as Shehzad edges to Senanayake at first slip to end a partnership of 84. Pak 115-2 in 20.2 overs.    

Ahmed Shehzad c Senanayake b Lakmal 44 (56b 5x4 0x6)

Hafeez dances down the track and slams Senanayake for a six. Pak 115-1 in 20 overs.

Hafeez completes his half century off 39 balls. It contained eight boundaries and a six. Pak 104-1 in 17 overs.

Senanayake comes into the attack but is hammered for a couple of boundaries by Hafeez. Pak 91-1 in 14 overs.

Hafeez slams Malinga for a six and a boundary off consecutive balls. Pak 78-1 in 13 overs.

Hafeez pulls Kulasekera to the midwicket fence. Pak 62-1 in 11 overs.

Pakistan are cruising at 57-1 at the end of the Powerplay overs.

Shehzad punches Kulasekera through the covers for another boundary. Pak 56-1 in 9 overs.

Lakmal goes for 13 as Hafeez slams three boundaries. SL 48-1 in 7 overs.

Mathews draws first blood sending Sharjeel's off stump cartwheeling with his first delivery as the left-hander played inside the line. Pak 31-1 in 5.1 overs.

Sharjeel Khan b Mathews 13 (16b 2x4 0x6)

Lakmal replaces Kulasekera whose two overs cost 16 runs. Pak 31-0 in 5 overs.

Sharjeel also gets into his stride punching Malinga through the covers for a couple of boundaries. SL 25-0 in 4 overs.

Shehzad gets into his stride cracking three boundaries off Kulasekera. Pak 17-0 in 3 overs.

Shehzad hits the first boundary of the innings pushing Kulasekera to midoff.

SRI LANKA INNINGS

Pakistan restricted Sri Lanka to 225 in 4.5 overs despite a half centuries by debutant Ashan Priyanjan (74) and Kumar Sangakkara (51).

A devastating opening spell by Umar Gul who snared three for 37 had Sri Lanka reeling at 36-3 in the eighth over after opting to bat first.

Priyanjan and Sangakkara put the innings back on track with a breezy 89-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Sangakkara was run out after misunderstanding with his partner having made 51 off 7 balls with three boundaries.

Priyanjan became the third Sri Lankan to make a half century on his ODI debut and looked good for a big score before exposing his stumps and playing a rash stroke to be bowled by Junaid.

His belligerent knock of 74 off 93 balls was studded with 10 hit the ropes.

Mathews held the tail together but became one of the four victims of Ajmal who trapped him leg before in the 45th over after having made 3 off 46 balls with two boundaries and a six.

Another debutant Vithanage chipped in with a useful 27 which contained four boundaries.

Ajmal, who was on a hat-trick at one stage, finished with superb figures of 9.5-1-39-4 while Junaid Khan claimed two for 42.

Malinga takes a swipe at Ajmal only to be caught behind to be last man out. SL 225 all out in 4.5 overs.

Lasith Malinga  c Umar Akmal b Saeed Ajmal 0 (5b 0x4 0x6)

Sri Lanka lose their ninth wickets as Vithanage holes out to Maqsood at midwicket off Junaid. SL 225-9 in 4 overs.

K Vithanage c Sohaib Maqsood b Junaid Khan 27 (26b 4x4 0x6) 

Vithanage gets a couple of boundaries by reverse sweeping Ajmal. SL 222-8 in 47 overs.

Lakmal survives the hat-trick ball from Ajmal which narrowly misses the outside edge. SL 210- in 45 overs.

Ajmal is on a hat-trick bowling Senanayake off his pads for a golden duck. SL 210- in 44.2 overs.

Sachithra Senanayake b Saeed Ajmal 0 (1b 0x4 0x6)

Ajmal strikes beating Mathews with a doosra to trap him leg before with Sri Lanka being unsuccessful with the decision review. SL 210-7 in 44.1 overs.

Angelo Mathews lbw b Saeed Ajmal 38 (46b 2x4 1x6)

Vithanage gets a boundary with a reverse sweep off Hafeez on his third attempt. SL 210-6 in 44 overs.

Vithanage slams Hafeez to midwicket for his first boundary to bring up the 200 of the innings in the 42nd over.

Sri Lanka manage 30 for the loss of two wickets in the Batting Powerplay overs. SL 189-6 in 40 overs.

Ajmal bowls a tight over conceding just two runs in the fourth over of Batting Powerplay. SL 12-6 in 39 overs.

Mathews slams Junaid for a boundary and a straight six in the third over of Batting Powerplay. SL 180-6 in 38 overs.

Ajmal strikes in the second over of the Batting Powerplay as Kulasekera chips a return catch. SL 170-6 in 37 overs.

Nuwan Kulasekara c and b Saeed Ajmal 1 (7b 0x4 0x6)

Junaid strikes in the first over of the Batting Powerplay with Priyanjan making room to paddle him on the leg side only to find his stumps rattled. SL 165-5 in 35.3 overs.

Ashan Priyanjan b Junaid Khan 74 (93b 10x4 0x6)

Priyanjan continues to flay the Pakistan attack slamming a couple of boundaries off Afridi to midwicket. SL 136-4 in 30 overs.

Sangakkara is run out after being sent back by Priyanjan and fails to beat the throw from Anwar Ali. SL 135-4 in 2.5 overs.

Kumar Sangakkara run out 51 (78b 3x4 0x6)

Ashan Priyanjan became the third Sri Lankan to score a ODI half century on debut.

Over 25 overs, Sri Lanka reach 113 for 3 after half way through the innnings.

Debutant Priyanjan is really playing well against the 'magician' Saeed Ajmal. SL reach 107-3 after 23 overs.

Bhatti bowls a maiden over. SL 1001-3 after 22 overs.

Sri Lanka score 100 runs after 21 overs.

Sangakkara (39) and  Priyanjan (36) take their team to 98 for 3 wickets after 20 overs.

Saeed Ajmal bowls his first over, give 6 runs. SL reach 96/3 after 19 overs.

Shahid Afridi's 17th over was productive for Sri Lanka, scoring 8 runs in it. Sangakkara-Priyanjan partnership reach 50.

Lankan batsmen have been maintaining run rate nearly 5 runs per over.

Sri Lanka reach 78 for the loss of 3 wickets after 16 overs.

Poor bowling from Bhatti, gave away 10 runs in the first over.

Bowling changed from the other end also. Bilawal Bhatti replaces Umar Gul.

Bowling change: Shahid Afridi comes into to bowl in place of Junaid Khan. Afridi gave 4 runs his first over.

Priyanjan takes on Umar Gul, hits him 3 boundaries in the 10th over.

Sri Lanka reach half century after the first Powerplay.

None of the three Sri Lankan players could enter into double digits. Perera, Dilshan and Chandimal got out at 8, 8 and 5 runs - respectively.

Umar Gul strikes for the third time, Misbah takes catch of Chandimal. Sri Lanka lose 3rd wicket.

Dinesh Chandimal c Misbah-ul-Haq b Umar Gul 5 (12b 1x4 0x6)

Sangakkara and Chandimal take team to 36 for the loss of 2 wickets after 7 overs.

Sri Lanka reach 27 for the loss of 2 wickets after 5 overs.

Sri Lanka score 22 runs after 4 overs, losing the two openers.

Umar Gul strikes again, clean bowled Dilshan,

TM Dilshan b Umar Gul 8 (7b 1x4 0x6)

Lankans reach 10 for the loss of one wicket after 2 overs.

Umar Gul strikes in his first over, Sri Lanka lose their first wicket.

MDKJ Perera c Misbah b Umar Gul 8 (8b 1x4 0x6)

Sri Lanka score 6 runs in the first over bowled by Junaid Khan.

Sri Lanka win toss, opt to bat in must win game

Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and opted to bat in the fourth one-day international against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

Pakistan, who lead the series 2-1, remained unchanged from the side which won the third match in Sharjah by 113 runs on Sunday.

Sri Lanka made three changes from the last match, bringing in Kithruwan Vithanage, Ashan Priyanjan and Suranga Lakmal in place of Dimuth Karunaratne, Thisara Perera and Seekkuge Prasanna.

Pakistan won the first match by 11 runs in Sharjah while Sri Lanka won the second in Dubai by two wickets.
Teams:

Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Sharjeel Khan, Ahmed Shehzad, Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Bilawal Bhatti.

Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kusal Perera, Kumar Sangakkara, Dinesh Chandimal, Lasith Malinga, Kithruwan Vithanage, Nuwan Kulasekara, Sachithra Senanayake, Ashan Priyanjan, Suranga Lakmal.

Umpires: Ahsan Raza (PAK) and Richard Illingworth (ENG)

Tv umpire: Johan Cloete (RSA)
Match referee: Javagal Srinath (IND)