Called back in the national time after six months, Umar Akmal created a forgettable record in the 1st T20I of the series against Sri Lanka as he registered a golden duck, with Nuwan Pradeep trappping him in front of the stumps.
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He came in to bat after the wicket of Babar Azam on the penultimate delivery of the second over. Pradeep did not waste any time and trapped Akmal in front of the stumps to send him packing right on the first delivery that the right-handed batsman faced on his return.
With his ninth duck in the shortest format, he now sits second on the list of most ducks. England’s Luke Wright and Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien are two other batsmen with nine ducks in this format.
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The list is topped by Tillakaratne Dilshan, who scored 10 ducks in 80 T20Is that he played.
Akmal, along with Ahmed Shehzad, made his comeback in the T20I after a long time. While Akmal was a part of the Australia ODIs this year, he hadn’t played any T20I for close to three years. Shehzad was out of T20I side for 16 months.
He too struggled on his comeback as he was bowled by Isuru Udana on four off nine.
Pakistan, chasing a target of 166, just managed 101 runs on the board in 17.4 overs. Pradeep got early wickets of Azam and Akmal. Sarfaraz Ahmed and Ifthikar Ahmed did rescue the team but the asking-rate pressure caught up soon and in the end, the home side failed to survive 20 overs in the first T20I at home after two years.
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A second-string Sri Lanka led by Dasun Shanaka will eye a win in the second T20I and win the series. On the other hand, Pakistan will have everything to play for after their poor performance in the opening T20I.
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The second match will be played tomorrow at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, which will also host the third T20I on October 9.