Pakistan 219 for 9 (Azam 101, Shadab 52, Gamage 4-57, Thisara 2-34) beat Sri Lanka 187 (Tharanga 112, Vandersay 22, Shadab 3-47) by 32 runs

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Key Points

Babar Azam’s seventh ODI hundred combined with a sublime all-round performance from Shadab Khansaw a listless Sri Lanka slump to their ninth consecutive ODI defeat. They lost by 32 runs, but the margin would have been much greater but for a fighting hundred by Sri Lankan captain Upul Tharanga; no one else scored more than 22. Sri Lanka were on top in the first quarter of the match, having reduced Pakistan to 101 for 6, before Azam and Shadab put together a gritty 109-run stand to propel Pakistan to 219.

Tillakaratne rues batting collapse

Batting coach Hashan Tillakaratne rued Sri Lanka’s collapse in their chase of 220 in the second ODI, but was hopeful the team could turn things around in the remaining three matches. “It has been very difficult and disappointing,” he said, after they crashed from 79 for 3 to 187 all out in the second ODI. “I thought we could have chased down that target and bounce back by winning the game. But still series is open and we need to rectify our mistakes and come back strongly.”

Sri Lanka’s middle-order collapse was triggered by legspinner Shadab Khan, who dismissed Dinesh Chandimal, Milinda Siriwardana and Akila Dananjaya for single-digit scores. In the Test series, it was 31-year old Yasir Shah who had troubled them, and Tillakaratne acknowledged the batsmen need to work on this area of their game. “We have been practising to face leg-spinners and hopefully we will put up a good show in the third game,” Tillakaratne added