Hasaranga’s fifty in vain as Pakistan beats Sri Lanka by six runs in last-over thriller

Salman Agha got to his century in just 83 balls

Pakistan posted a total of 299/5 after Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl first. Salman Agha scored a century.Haris Rauf took a four-wicket haul as Sri Lanka fell short by four runs.

Pakistan started the series with a six-run win in a last-over thriller. Chasing 300, Sri Lanka made a solid start with a 85-run opening partnership between Pathum Nissanka and debutant Kamil Mishara. However, Haris Raud turned the game around with three wickets in two overs. Rauf also took the fourth wicket and finished with figures of 4-61. Both Naseem Shah and Faheem Ashraf took four wickets. Walking out to bat at number eight, Wanindhu Hasaranga led a lone fight with a knock of 59 but it was not enough.

After a top-order failure whch included another poor outing for Babar Azam, Salman Agha's 87-ball 105 carried Pakistan to a total of 299 on the board. Hussain Tatat made a knock of 62 in 63 balls. Mohammad Nawaz gave the hosts a quick-fire finish with a knock of 36 in 23 balls. Wanindu Hasaranga took a three-wicket haul.

Pakistan will host Sri Lanka in a three-match series from Tuesday, with all games set to take place at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium over the next six days. The Men in Green come into the series after making a winning start to Shaheen Afridi's captaincy tenure, after beating a second-string South Africa team 2-1 in Faisalabad.

This is the first bilateral ODI series between the two teams since 2019, when Sri Lanka visited Pakistan for the first time since the terror attack on their team in 2009. Later, the two teams will be joined by Zimbabwe and play a tri-series in the T20I format leading up to the T20 World Cup. (Agencies)