Pakistan v Sri Lanka – 3rd One Day International – Match Recap
Pakistan 257 v Sri Lanka 236 - Pakistan won by 21 runs
Pakistan took a lead by 2-1 in the five-match One Day International (ODI) series against Sri Lanka on Friday, November 18, 2011 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium after beating the Sri Lankan by 21 runs.
Coming into the match after suffering a defeat in the second match, Pakistan under the leadership of ace skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972 cited a win in order to take an upper hand in the tournament.
After winning the toss, Pakistan chose to bat first on wicket that was certainly a paradise for batsmen and experts had predicted a high score on the Dubai surface.
Pakistan openers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Imran-Farhat-c64218 have their side a flying start as they shredded the Sri Lankan bowling attack by smacking the bowlers all around the park without remorse.
The way the two batsmen were batting, Pakistan were aiming to post a tally close to 300 which would have been an extremely difficult for the Lankans to chase.
Hafeez has proved time and time against just why he is such an important player for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, but this time Farhat who has not been a permanent member of the Pakistan contingent over the past years played an innings of a life time by exhibiting fine stroke
playing technique.
Farhat, whose selection was a subject of great criticism in Pakistan has certainly justified his call for national duty by playing a stupendous knock of 70 runs.
However, before the openers could cause any further damage, the Sri Lankans dismissed Hafeez in the 30th over as the batsman walked off the field after amassing 83 runs off 101 deliveries. The batsman had his stumps uprooted by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Seekkuge-Prasanna-c89140.
At the time of this wicket, Pakistan had posted 151 runs on the board.
Later when the team had amassed 161 runs, they suffered the loss of Imran Farhat who lost his wicket in the 33rd over.
Pakistan then took a bold step of sending in ace all-rounder http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Razzaq-c84421 departed after playing a meagre innings of only
six runs.
Pakistan then had to rely on the services of middle-order batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Umar-Akmal-c94595 and skipper
Misbah lost their wickets after scoring seven runs.
With five wickets down it was time for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Khan-c71319.
Afridi and Younis amassed 33 runs together before Afridi while trying to hit a big six was caught by Mathews near the boundary off the bowing of Thisara Perera. In the end, Pakistan posted 257 runs on the board in 50 overs.
With a respectable total on the board, Sri Lanka had their work cut out for them as they needed to bat with composure to prevent Pakistan bowlers from dominating the sequence of events in the match.
From Sri Lanka skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KC-Sangakkara-c1779 played superb knocks of 64 and 45 runs in a bid to steer their side to victory.
However, Afridi proved extremely destructive for the Sri Lankans as a not only fielded sensationally but incinerated the Sri Lankan batsmen with his stupendous bowling.
Meanwhile, pacer http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Saeed-Ajmal-c87859 grabbed three wickets to end Sri Lanka’s chase by dismissing them in 48.5 overs on 236 runs.
Hafeez was named as the Player of the Match for his commendable show with the bat.
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