Pakistan open the tri-series with a 37-run win
Pakistan began their ODI tri-series with a 37-run victory over Sri Lanka on Sunday, posting 305 and dismissing the visitors for 268 in 48.1 overs. Shaheen Afridi wickets today were the headline with the ball: the left-armer finished with 3/55 as Naseem Shah (2/43) and Haris Rauf (2/48) shared the rest of the decisive spells. Salman Ali Agha’s 107 off 90 balls—his fourth ODI hundred—earned him Player of the Match and salvaged an innings that had wobbled early.
Asked to bat first, Pakistan lost four wickets for 118. Babar Azam made 45 off 57 with six boundaries before he and Saad Baig fell, leaving the middle order under pressure. Agha then rebuilt with Hasan Nawaz, who scored 37 off 49 with two fours and two sixes. Their 97-run fifth-wicket partnership took Pakistan to 215 and put a total above 300 back in reach.
Agha’s century steadies a shaky batting card
Agha’s innings came at a strike rate of 118.89, with 10 fours and a six, and closed a difficult recent run against Australia, where he had managed only six, seven and 15 across three innings. Including Sunday’s hundred, his last 10 ODI knocks have brought 526 runs, with three centuries and one half-century. He did not bat in the second ODI against Sri Lanka last November.
The century also arrived less than a fortnight after Pakistan replaced him as T20 international captain and left him out of the T20 squad for the Sri Lanka series. Kept in the ODI side, he underlined his value in the middle order. Sri Lanka still fought back late, bowling Pakistan out in 49.5 overs; Eshan Malinga took 4/46 and Asitha Fernando 3/59.
Pacers close out the chase after a Sri Lankan rally
Pakistan’s attack initially seemed to have put the chase beyond Sri Lanka at 91 for 4 in the 20th over. Avishka Fernando fell for five, Kusal Mendis for 18 and Sahan Arachchige for three, while Kamindu Mendis resisted with 44 off 50. A 119-run fifth-wicket stand then revived the pursuit: Pavan Rathnayake struck 79 off 74 with six fours and two sixes, and Janith Liyanage made 60 off 74 with five boundaries. Dasun Shanaka added 28, but Shaheen Afridi wickets today, with support from Naseem and Rauf, broke the recovery in the closing stages and left Sri Lanka 37 runs short.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Pakistan ne Sri Lanka ko ODI mein 37 runs se hara diya. Salman Agha ne 107 runs bana kar team ko 305 tak pahunchaya. Shaheen Afridi ne teen wickets liye, aur ye pehla match jeet kar series ka achha aghaz ho gaya. Cricket fans ke liye ye solid start hai—agle fixtures ab zyada interesting lagte hain.
