Pakistan A clinch narrow 3-wicket win over Sri Lanka A
Hammad Azam struck a 54-ball 63 as Pakistan A defeated Sri Lanka A by three wickets in the second game of Sri Lanka A Team Triangular Series played at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo on Thursday. Chasing Sri Lanka A’s competitive 50-overs total of 224 for 9, Azam struck five boundaries and two lofty sixes for his 63 to steer his team home in the penultimate over with three wickets intact.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Irfan-c64444 picked 2 wickets conceding 37 runs in his quota of 10 overs.
Clinical bowling performances by Yasir and Irfan were duly respected by the batting line up led by 19 years old Rawalpindi based all-rounder Azam as Pakistan A side sealed a narrow 3-wicket victory over hosts with 8 balls to spare.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Azeem-Ghumman-c1112, the visiting skipper after winning the toss opted to field first. Sri Lanka A after being put into bat went off to a steady start with the explosive opening pair of Dimuth Karunaratne and Mahela Udawatte setting an opening stand of 62 runs with the bulk coming from former. Azam earned Pakistan A breakthrough in the 15th over having Karunaratne caught by Mohammad Talha. Karunaratne scored 41 runs from 60 balls. His 68 minutes stay at the crease saw him hitting the ball four times through the boundary line.
After Karunaratne’s dismissal, wicketkeeper batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Dinesh-c54134 Chandimal joined Udawatte at the crease. Both the players added 17 runs to the scorecard for the second wicket stand before Udawatte squandered his wicket needlessly. While taking a careless run, he was beaten on Azam’s through. Udawatte’s 44-ball innings added 21 runs to the team’s total including a boundary as well.
Udawatte’s dismissal brought skipper Thilina Kandamby to the crease and in partnership with Chandimal, the duo posted 14 more runs to the board. The score became 93 for 3 when Chandimal was bowled out by Yasir on the first ball of 25th over. His 29-ball 12 contained one four as well.
Kandamby shared a steady stand of 37 runs with Lahiru Thirimanne for the fourth wicket partnership with the mass coming from the skipper himself. A flurry of boundaries struck by Kandamby excited the home crowd but the excitement was short-lived as Thirimanne was caught and bowled by Yasir in the 35th over. Thirimane scored 13 runs from 29 balls. Later, Kandamby and Janaka Gunaratne added 38 runs to the score for the fifth wicket stand before Gunaratne departed in the 41st over. Once again it was Yasir Shah who broke their partnership having Gunaratne caught by Asad Shafiq. With the wickets clattering at regular intervals, it was Kandamby who took the side to a competitive total of 224 for nine with his fine half-century knock.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Manzoor-c74308 setting a strong foundation of 46 runs from just 6 overs. Kandamby and Suranga Lakmal scythed through its batting line up. Both of them had the visitors sunk at 166 for 7 in the 43rd over and Pakistan A seemed all set to face its second successive defeat in the tri-series. It needed a battling innings of 63 runs from Azam to spearhead a recovery that was well supported by Talha as Pakistan A met the target in the penultimate over.
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