What no Pakistani batsman could do for 48 years, Abdullah Shafiq did it

What no Pakistani batsman could do for 48 years, Abdullah Shafiq did it

Chasing a mountain-like target against Sri Lanka, the Pakistani opening batsman set a world record

What no Pakistani could do for 48 years, Abdullah Shafiq has done it, the opener of the national team has become the first Pakistani batsman to score a century in his first World Cup match. In the eighth match of the ICC World Cup, Sri Lanka has given Pakistan a target of 345 runs to win. Perera returned to the pavilion for zero, Patham Nissanka and Kaushal Perera established a partnership of 102 runs for the second wicket. 

The aggressive Kosal Mendis was caught out by Hasan Ali for 122 runs.

Hasan Ali also took the fourth wicket for Pakistan on the first ball of his next over. He got Aslanka caught out for one run. Apart from Dhananjaya De Silva 25, skipper Dasan Shanaka 12 and Dinath Valalge 10, no other player could cross double figures. Kaushal Mendis scored 122 and Samara Wickrama scored 108 runs.

Sri Lanka scored 344 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in the allotted 50 overs, this is the highest score by any team against Pakistan in a World Cup match. Made it in the 2019 World Cup. Hasan Ali of Green Shirts took 4 wickets, Haris Rauf took 2 wickets while Shaheen Afridi, Shadab and Mohammad Nawaz took 1 and 1 wicket respectively.

He said that he will try to increase the pressure on setting a big target against Pakistan. He is determined to get the first victory in the event. On this occasion, the captain of the national team, Babar Azam, said that they want to maintain the streak of winning matches with success. Both the teams have made one change, Sri Lanka have replaced Kisan Rajitha with Mahesh Thiekshana while Pakistan have replaced Fakhar Zaman with Abdullah Shafiq in the playing XI.

Earlier, the two teams have faced each other 7 times in the international competitions of the World Cup, where Pakistan has the upper hand, the Green Shirts have established an advantage over the Islanders by 0-7. The Pakistan squad consists of captain Babar Azam, Abdullah Shafiq, Imamul Haq, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf, while in the Sri Lankan squad, captain Dasan Shanaka, Patham Nissanka, Kaushal Perera, Kaushal Mendis, Siddira Samara Wickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya De Silva, Mahesh Theekshana, Dilshan Madushanka, Mathisha Pathirana and Dinoth Velalage.

Sri Lanka 344/9 (50)

Batsmen	R	B	4s	6s	SR
P Nissanka c Abdullah Shafique b Shadab Khan	51	61	7	1	83.6
MDKJ Perera c †Mohammad Rizwan b Hasan Ali	0	4	0	0	0
Kusal Mendis c Imam-ul-Haq b Hasan Ali	122	77	14	6	158.44
Sadeera Samarawickrama c †Mohammad Rizwan b Hasan Ali	108	89	11	2	121.34
KIC Asalanka c †Mohammad Rizwan b Hasan Ali	1	3	0	0	33.33
Dhananjaya de Silva c Shaheen Shah Afridi b Mohammad Nawaz	25	34	3	0	73.52
Dasun Shanaka c Babar Azam b Shaheen Shah Afridi	12	18	0	0	66.66
Extra	14
Total	344/9 (50) RR: 6.88

Fall Of Wickets : 1-5(Kusal Perera. 1.4 ov), 2-107(Pathum Nissanka. 17.2 ov), 3-218(Kusal Mendis. 28.5 ov), 4-229(Charith Asalanka. 30.1 ov), 5-294(Dhananjaya de Silva. 41.1 ov), 6-324(Dasun Shanaka. 46.3 ov), 7-335(Sadeera Samarawickrama. 47.6 ov), 8-343(Maheesh Theekshana. 49.2 ov), 9-344(Dunith Wellalage. 49.6 ov)

Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ	Ext
Haris Rauf	10	0	64	2	6.4
Hasan Ali	10	0	71	4	7.1
Mohammad Nawaz	9	0	62	1	6.88
Shaheen Shah Afridi	9	0	66	1	7.33
Shadab Khan	8	0	55	1	6.87
Iftikhar Ahmed	4	0	22	0	5.5

Pakistan 345/4 (48.2)

Batsmen	R	B	4s	6s	SR
Abdullah Shafique c sub (MADI Hemantha) b Pathirana	113	103	10	3	109.7
Imam-ul-Haq c Perera b Madushanka	12	12	1	0	100
Babar Azam c †Samarawickrama b Madushanka	10	15	1	0	66.66
Mohammad Rizwan not out	131	121	8	3	108.26
Saud Shakeel c Wellalage b Theekshana	31	30	2	0	103.33
Iftikhar Ahmed not out	22	10	4	0	220
Extra	26
Total	345/4 (48.2) RR: 7.16

Fall Of Wickets : 1-16(Imam-ul-Haq. 3.3 ov), 2-37(Babar Azam. 7.2 ov), 3-213(Abdullah Shafique. 33.1 ov), 4-308(Saud Shakeel. 44.3 ov)

Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ	Ext
Dasun Shanaka	5	0	28	0	5.6
Dhananjaya de Silva	4	0	36	0	9
KIC Asalanka	1	0	10	0	10