Pakistan, led by skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed’s memorable knock of 61 off 79 balls, thumped Sri Lanka by 3 wickets in a thrilling contest at the KIA Oval, London. Two of the most unfancied side, who were thought to be the least competitive ones, produced the best spectacle of cricket today in the entire tournament.
The day’s play was full of ups and down, momentum kept swinging from one side to the other and no team was the ultimate favourite to win before Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed brought the turnaround.
Chasing a modest 238 runs target, Pakistan, despite a good start, lost their way and put themselves in a spot of bother. Openers Azhar Ali (34 from 50 balls) and Fakhar Zaman (50 from 36 balls) gave a good start but middle order failure saw the get reduced to 137/6 after being 74/1 at the time the opening wicket fell in the form of Fakhar.
However, skipper Sarfaraz stood tall and with the help of Fahim and tailender Mohammad Amir, steadily accumulated runs and smoothly took his side past the finishing line.
Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews was visibly upset with the team’s performance and expressed it in the post-match ceremony.
“Bit of a see-saw game. Credit to Pakistan. They held their nerves. It was bit of a funny wicket. Was stopping a bit. We thought we could bowl well and restrict them. Unfortunately we dropped a few catches. Proud of the guys, of the bowlers. The tournament was quite good. Even in the first game , we had our chance. In a big tournament like this, the boys held it well,” Mathews said after the loss.
Earlier, Pakistan bowling attack performed at its best. Junaid Khan (3/40) and Mohammad Amir (2/53) did the maximum damage. The other two seamers Fahim Ashraf (2/37) and Hassan Ali (3/43) also played a great supporting cast.
The Lankans did not get off to the best of the starts and throughout the first innings failed to maintain a momentum. At the start, they lost opener Gunathilaka for just 13 runs. Niroshan Dickwella and Kusal Mendis nullified the effect of the early loss with the help of the combined effort which saw the duo add 56 for the second wicket before Sarfaraz Ahmed’s bowling change brought not one but two crucial breakthroughs.
Hassan Ali and Fahim Ashraf both were brought in to bowl in tandem and delivered result instantly. The first to strike was Hassan Ali who cleaned up the dangerous looking Mendis to give a major setback to the batting side.
Shortly, Fahim snapped up Dinesh Chandimal for a two-ball duck to deliver a double blow. Later, Angelo Mathews and Dickwella did some damage control and took the innings forward. The stand between the two took Sri Lanka to 161/4, a comfortable position to be in after 32 overs. But before the batting side could capitalise on it, the left-handed fast bowling duo of Junaid Khan and Mohammad Amir snapped four wickets between them in the space of four overs to leave them reeling at 167/7.
Asela Gunaratne (27 from 44 balls) and Suranga Lakmal (26 from 34 balls), fortunately, played responsibility and ensure that the team total went past the 200-run mark.