Babar Azam made his sixth ODI century
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Babar Azam and Shoaib Malik scored 103 and 81 respectively as Pakistan took down Sri Lanka by 83 runs in the first ODI in Dubai.
Coming into the series, Pakistan would have been looking to secure their first win as they lost the Test series 2-0.
Choosing to bowl first, Sri Lanka made an early breakthrough as Pakistan opener Ahmed Shehzad was caught by Akila Dananjaya at square leg off the bowling of Lahiru Gamage for a duck.
Fakhar Zaman and Azam made up for the loss of Shehzad with a 64-run partnership before Zaman was clean bowled by Dananjaya for a 45-ball 43.
Mohammad Hafeez managed to make 32 before he was dismissed by Jeffrey Vandersay.
Once Hafeez was gone, Azam and Malik took over as they put together a 139-run partnership, during which both batsmen sailed past their fifties.
Shoaib Malik scored his 32nd ODI fifty
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
With Azam within touching distance of his hundred and Malik looking in superb form, Pakistan were on track to make a huge score.
However, Malik ended up being caught by Dananjaya at deep midwicket off the bowling of Suranga Lakmal for 81, which came off 61 balls and included five boundaries and two sixes.
Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed fell shortly after, while Azam went on to score 103 off 131 deliveries, which included five boundaries, before he became Lakmal’s second victim.
Thanks to Azam and Malik, Pakistan managed to score 292/6 off their 50 overs.
Lakmal was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets, while Gamage, Dananjaya, Vandersay and Thisara Perera chipped in with one wicket apiece.
Chasing 293 to win, Sri Lanka were dealt two major blows early on as Rumman Raees took out Niroshan Dickwella and Dinesh Chandimal for 19 and four runs respectively.
Sri Lanka captain Upul Tharanga fared no better as he was clean bowled by Hafeez for 18.
Kusal Mendis and Milinda Siriwardana were back in the pavilion not long after as Sri Lanka stumbled to 67/5 in the 16th over.
Thisara Perera mustered 21 runs before he was dismissed by Shadab Khan, while Lahiru Thirimanne was one of the only Sri Lankan batsmen to put up a fight as he made 53 off 74 balls, which included three boundaries.
Lahiru Thirimanne was Sri Lanka’s top scorer
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Dananjaya and Vandersay provided some late resistance, amassing a 68-run partnership, but even though Dananjaya made an unbeaten 50 off 72 balls, which included five boundaries, it was not enough to save Sri Lanka as they ended up finishing on 209/8 off their 50 overs.
Raees and Hasan Ali took three wickets apiece, while Hafeez and Shadab claimed one wicket each.
Tharanga was disappointed to have lost, and said: “Pakistan batted really well. At one stage, we thought we could restrict them to below 270. We haven’t batted to potential in the last few series, we haven’t been able to bat 50 overs. It’s time we deliver.”
Sarfraz was thrilled to have finally won a match, and said: “When you lose one series, the first match of the next series becomes very important. Credit to the boys. We’ve got a lot of bowling options. This bodes well for us.
“The way we’ve done today, we’ll look to carry this template forward. If you set up runs on the board, with this bowling attack we can defend well. We will of course decide based on conditions. There is a lot of quality in this side.”
Malik was named Man of the Match, and said: “In the middle overs, Sri Lanka were bowling well, so strike rotation was key. I knew I could cover up in the end. Credit to Babar and Hafeez. That was the innings that gave us the confidence.
“End of the day, the bowlers did pretty well. Being an experienced player, it’s my responsibility to turn up when things are down. I didn’t take any pressure. My role was to rotate strike. Those few boundaries helped our total.”