http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758: 3rd ODI at Dubai – First Innings Report
Pakistan have amassed 257 for the loss of eight wickets, batting first in the third One-dayer against Sri Lanka at Dubai on Friday, November 18, 2011.
Pakistan’s 25 -over score of 121 without a loss suggested an over-300 total, but as soon as the first wicket fell, the Green Shirts lost the momentum.
The Dubai track was expected to assist every sort of bowling initially but the threat was not too big to hamper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972 from electing to bat first after winning the toss.
In the beginning, the islanders were not as incisive as they would have like to, and that allowed the openers to settle down.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Imran-Farhat-c64218 played well and laid a solid platform for a mammoth total. The duo batted sluggishly in the first powerplay but gradually picked up the pace to steer Pakistan to a dominating position.
In the 29 over when Pakistan’s score was 151, the first wicket fell, as Hafeez was bowled out by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Seekkuge-Prasanna-c89140. With help of a big hit and nine beautiful boundaries, Hafeez collected 83 runs before leaving the crease.
The Men in Green were in a driving seat then and thus, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Abdul-Razzaq-c41623 was sent at the number-three position to boost the scoring rate.
However, the all-rounder could not spark and went back to the pavilion after adding just six runs to the total.
After Razzak’s sudden departure, Farhat took the responsibility to pump up the strike rate.
Yet, the opener was dismissed by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/TM-Dilshan-c2691 after he smashed a massive six. After the exit of Farhat who amassed classy 70, the wickets started going down at regular intervals.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 looped the ball in the air after contributing 15 runs.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Younis-Khan-c98325, on the other end, batted responsibly and kept on placing the ball into the gaps for singles and doubles.
After clattering crucial 42 at a critical juncture, the veteran batsman ran himself out in the last over, as the bat slipped out of his hands.
By the end of the innings, a couple of boundaries by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sohail-Tanvir-c90665 propped the side up to 257 runs – a disappointing effort after getting off to a great start.
From Sri Lanka, Malinga and Prasanna grabbed two wickets while Thisara Perera and Dilshan left the field with one scalp to their credit.
To take a 2-1 lead in the series, the Lankan http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Lions-c808 need 258 at an asking rate of a little over-5 per over.
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