10.40 pm That's about as perfect a game as can be played, roll over the opposition for 208, with a young fast bowler taking a five-for and overtaking a veritable legend of the game. Then have a debutant take centre stage and score an impressive century. It just seemed on the cards for Pakistan, so much that Imam-ul-Haq started walking on 89, only to be called back to the crease for the catch he thought was clean wasn't quite so. After the trials of the Test series, where they came up short playing for the first time without Misbah and Younis in so many years, here, they have been propped up on young shoulders.
At the other end, Sri Lanka have slumped to their 10th ODI defeat in a row. Much of that has been because their batsmen has not been able to produce big scores and as a result the team has struggled to post competitive totals. Bright lights like Kusal Mendis haven't been able to crack the ODI code like say Babar Azam has. They'll need time, yes, but they'll also need to acknowledge that they are playing pretty poorly at the moment and will need to sit down and have an honest talk about what they want to do out in the field. Increasingly, it looks like a team that goes out to bat wanting to avoid a collapse rather than put up big runs on the board.
Imam-ul-Haq is the Man of the Match, of course. Well then, thank you for your company tonight. Hopefully you'll join us for the rest of the game, even though they have become dead rubbers.
Shabaib Abdulla: "Now Imam have doubled his burden on him. Intially he was supposed to carry his Uncle's legacy and now with his Debut century people will now have more expectation from him"
END OF OVER:42 | 4 Runs 1 Wkt | PAK: 203/3 (6 runs required from 48 balls, RR: 4.83, RRR: 0.75)
- Mohammad Hafeez29 (48b)
- Thisara Perera4-0-22-1
- Jeffrey Vandersay9-1-37-1
Imam walks off to great applause. He is met by the incoming batsman Shoaib Malik and pulled into a hug. Then he disappears into a huddle with his team-mates. They're all chuffed for him
Imam-ul-Haq c †Dickwella b Perera 100 (125b 5x4 2x6) SR: 80.00
Azweer: "Definitely uncle Inzi must be in tears... Very emotional moment.."
Cheers around the ground, the captain claps heartily as he sees Imam-ul-Haq get back on strike. The 21-year old opener is 99 not out on debut
END OF OVER:41 | (maiden) | PAK: 199/2 (10 runs required from 54 balls, RR: 4.85, RRR: 1.11)
- Mohammad Hafeez27 (45b)
- Imam-ul-Haq98 (122b)
- Jeffrey Vandersay9-1-37-1
- Thisara Perera3-0-18-0
