PAKISTAN BEAT SRI LANKA

IN HISTORIC KARACHI ODI

Pakistan rode on a brilliant century from Babar Azam and fast bowler Usman Shinwari’s five wickets to beat Sri Lanka by 67 runs in the second daynight international on Monday as Karachi staged its first ODI in a decade.

Azam, currently one of the best batsmen in limited overs cricket, smashed a solid 105ball 115 to lift Pakistan to 305-7 after the home team won the toss and batted.

Shinwari then knocked off the top-order in figures of 5-51 as the visitors -- depleted by the withdrawal of 10 top players who refused to tour over security fears -- were bowled out for 238 in 46.5 overs.

The win gives Pakistan a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with the first ODI rained off in Karachi on Friday. The third and final match is also set for the same venue on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka were down and out at 28-5 before youngsters Shehan Jayasuriya and Dasun Shanaka staged a fightback during their record 177-run stand -- an ODI record for this wicket for Sri Lanka.

Jayasuriya missed his maiden hundred by four runs while Shanaka notched his highest ODI score of 68, but both fell in the space of three balls to surrender the fight. They bettered the previous best sixth wicket stand of 159 between Chamara Kapugedera and Chamara Silva against the West Indies at Port of Spain in 2008.

The match marked the first ODI cricket to be played in Karachi since the same two teams played here in January 2009, on the tour when the visitors’ bus was attacked by terrorists in Lahore.

It was Azam who treated the fans in the afternoon.

Azam, when on 54, became the fifth batsman to complete 1,000 ODI runs in 2019 -- behind India’s duo Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, and Australian couple Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja.

He added an innings-building 111 for the third wicket with Haris Sohail (40), as Sri Lankan bowlers toiled to break the stand.

It was only through an unfortunate run out that Sohail fell, leaving Azam to anchor the innings. He square cut pacer Lahiru Kumara for a boundary to complete his 11th ODI hundred off 97 balls.