Hasaranga, Fernando star as Sri Lanka whitewash number one Pakistan in T20 series

Published October 9, 2019
Sri Lanka's cricketers pose for a photograph with winning trophy during the third and final Twenty20 International cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the Gaddafi Cricket Stadium in Lahore on Wednesday. — AFP
Sri Lanka's cricketers pose for a photograph with winning trophy during the third and final Twenty20 International cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the Gaddafi Cricket Stadium in Lahore on Wednesday. — AFP
Pakistan's cricketers celebrate after the dismissal of Sri Lanka's Danushka Gunathilaka (R) during the third and final Twenty20 International cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the Gaddafi Cricket Stadium in Lahore on Wednesday. — AFP
Pakistan's cricketers celebrate after the dismissal of Sri Lanka's Danushka Gunathilaka (R) during the third and final Twenty20 International cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the Gaddafi Cricket Stadium in Lahore on Wednesday. — AFP

Inexperienced Sri Lanka completed a 3-0 clean-sweep in their Twenty20 series with world number one Pakistan on Wednesday with a 13-run victory in Lahore.

Chasing a modest 148-run target, Pakistan were on course for victory with Haris Sohail's 50-ball 52 with four boundaries and a six but leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga turned the tables with 3-21 to restrict the hosts to 134-6 in 20 overs.

Hasaranga had Sohail stumped in the 16th over and then dismissed Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed (16-ball 17) in the 18th to give Sri Lanka victory on a match day designated as Pink Day for breast cancer awareness.

President Arif Alvi puts a pink ribbon on the T-shirt of Sri Lanka's captain Dasun Shanaka ahead of the beginning of the match. — AFP
President Arif Alvi puts a pink ribbon on the T-shirt of Sri Lanka's captain Dasun Shanaka ahead of the beginning of the match. — AFP

“It's really a good victory,” said Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka. “All the players were bonded, that was the key to our success.

“There are no extraordinary players here — they're all talented, but the unity was the secret. If we play smart cricket, there's always a possibility to win.”

Oshada Fernando had struck a brilliant 48-ball 78 with three sixes and eight boundaries — the highest by a Sri Lankan player on T20I debut — to lift Sri Lanka to 147-7 in their 20 overs.

Jehan Mubarak and Danushka Gunathilaka — who both scored 46 each — had held the previous record for most runs on a Twenty20 debut for Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka's victory was their first-ever Twenty20 series whitewash and was achieved despite missing 10 of their top players, including regular T20 skipper Lasith Malinga, who refused to tour Pakistan over security fears.

However their absences did not hurt Sri Lanka as they staged a remarkable comeback after losing the one-day series 2-0 by winning the first two matches of the T20 series by 64 and 35 runs respectively.

Before this, Pakistan's only Twenty20 whitewash defeat was at the hands of England in the United Arab Emirates in 2015.

“I think we recovered well in the bowling, but we needed another good partnership in the middle but we were subdued; we didn't express ourselves throughout this series,” said captain Sarfaraz.

Pakistan's start was once again disastrous as they lost aggressive opener Fakhar Zaman off the first ball of their innings, bowled by Kasun Rajitha for nought.

Babar Azam (32-ball 27) and Sohail added 76 for the second wicket but Sri Lanka applied the brakes as boundaries dried up.

Iftikhar Ahmed hit a six and a boundary in his 17 but targets of 37 off the last two overs and 28 in the last were beyond Pakistan.

Earlier, Sri Lanka rode on a brilliant maiden half century by Fernando, who held the innings together after Sri Lanka lost two wickets for 28 runs in four overs.

They then slumped to 58-4 with Bhanuka Rajapaksa, the star of the second match, falling for just three. Fernando repaired the damage with a fighting 76-run stand for the fifth wicket with Shanaka, who made 12.

Pakistan were once again sloppy in the field, dropping four catches while Sarfaraz spurned a stumping chance behind the wicket.

Paceman Mohammad Amir, who went wicket-less in the first two matches, finished with 3-27.

Sri Lanka had made five changes to check their bench strength, bringing in Sadeera Samarawickrama, Angelo Perera, Oshada Fernando, Lahiru Madushanka and Lahiru Kumara. They replaced Minod Bhanuka, Shehan Jayasuriya, Avishka Fernando, Isuru Udana and Nuwan Pradeep.

Pakistan left out the misfiring Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal while fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain was rested. They were replaced by Haris Sohail, Iftikhar Ahmed and Usman Shinwari.

The venue for today's game, Gaddafi Stadium, was decked out in pink after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) joined hands with Pink Ribbon to create awareness about breast cancer.

"The stumps for the last #PAKvSL T20I are being branded in pink. All sponsors of the series have also changed their branding colours in the ground to pink," the PCB said in a tweet.

Teams

Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Iftikhar Ahmed, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt, wk), Asif Ali, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Usman Shinwari

Sri Lanka: Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama (wk), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Angelo Perera, Oshada Fernando, Dasun Shanaka (capt), Wanindu Hasaranga, Lahiru Madushanka, Lakshan Sandakan, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara

Opinion

Editorial

Smog hazard
Updated 05 Nov, 2024

Smog hazard

The catastrophe unfolding in Lahore is a product of authorities’ repeated failure to recognise environmental impact of rapid urbanisation.
Monetary policy
05 Nov, 2024

Monetary policy

IN an aggressive move, the State Bank on Monday reduced its key policy rate by a hefty 250bps to 15pc. This is the...
Cultural power
05 Nov, 2024

Cultural power

AS vital modes of communication, art and culture have the power to overcome social and international barriers....
Disregarding CCI
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Disregarding CCI

The failure to regularly convene CCI meetings means that the process of democratic decision-making is falling apart.
Defeating TB
04 Nov, 2024

Defeating TB

CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has the fifth highest burden of tuberculosis in the world as per the World Health...
Ceasefire charade
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Ceasefire charade

The US talks of peace, while simultaneously arming and funding their Israeli allies, are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade.