Hyderabad, Oct 10: Mohammad Rizwan battled severe cramps to smash an unbeaten century, while young Abdullah Shafique hit a maiden ton as Pakistan scripted a world-record chase to edge out Sri Lanka by six wickets in a high-scoring ODI to continue their winning run in the World Cup here on Tuesday.
Rizwan paced his innings superbly as he shared a match-winning 176-run stand for the third wicket with the 23-year-old Shafique (113) to first resurrect their chase of a stiff 345 and then added another 95 runs with Saud Shakeel (31) as Pakistan romped home in 48.2 overs.
This was the highest successful run-chase in the history of the World Cup as Pakistan extended their winning streak against Sri Lanka in World Cups to an overwhelming 8-0.
Ireland had previously held the record for the highest run chase in ODI World Cups when they successfully chased down 329 versus England during the 2011 World Cup in India.
Opting to bat, Sri Lanka dished out a dominating batting performance to post a challenging 344 for nine, built around the superlative hundreds by Kusal Mendis (122) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (108).
Sri Lanka then left Pakistan reeling at 37 for 2 in 7.2 overs with Dilshan Madushanka claiming both the wickets. While a pull shot became Imam-ul-Haq’s undoing, skipper Babar failed again after trying to play one down the legside.
However, Shafique, playing only his fifth ODI, showed great maturity as he and Rizwan steadied the ship to set up a famous win for Pakistan.
Rizwan and Saud Shakeel (31) brought the equation down to 62 off 48 balls with Sri Lanka too missing a few catches as 300 was up in the 44th over.
Rizwan clobbered a six over deep midwicket to take Pakistan closer but Maheesh Theekshana dismissed Shakeel but it was too late by then.
Needing 20 off 18 balls, Iftikhar Ahmed then smashed three fours off Matheesha Pathirana to dash the Islanders’ hopes.
Earlier, Mendis’ 77-ball 122-run knock was the fastest hundred by a Sri Lankan in World Cup history, while Samarawickrama picked up his maiden ODI ton with a 89-ball 108 as the islanders posted their highest World Cup total against a Full Member.
The 28-year-old Mendis batted with absolute authority, clobbering six maximums and 14 fours. He starred in two 100-plus partnerships with Pathum Nissanka (51) and Samarawickrama to take Sri Lanka across the 200-mark in the 28th over.
Once Mendis was dismissed, Samarawickrama took the onus and paced his innings superbly, using his cuts and drives as Sri Lanka kept accumulating runs with ease. He cracked 11 boundaries and two sixes in his 89-ball knock. (PTI)
