Sarfraz Ahamed holds nerve to knock sloppy Sri Lanka out

Sarfraz Ahmed and Mohammed Amir held their nerve to add unbroken 75 runs for the 8th wicket and guide Pakistan to a 3-wicket win over Sri Lanka at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.

Watch – තිසර පෙරේරා පකිස්තානු තරගය ගැන පැවසූ දෑ

Man-of-the-match Ahmed was dropped on 38 by Thisara Perera at mid-on and on 40 by Seekkuge Prasanna at deep square leg, both off Lasith Malinga. He went onto score a match-winning, unbeaten 61 off 79 balls along with Amir’s 28* to chase down Sri Lanka’s score of 236 with more than 5 overs to spare.

After being 137 for 6, Pakistan held their nerve to book their place in the first semi-final against England at the same venue on Wednesday. Sri Lanka’s poor fielding was the sole reason for defeat and will be severely disappointed.

Earlier, after being sent into bat, Sri Lanka opening batsmen Niroshan Dickwella and Danushka Gunathilaka was tested outside their off stump early on by both left-armers, Junaid Khan and Mohammed Amir as they extracted seam and swing. Gunathilaka smashed two boundaries off Junaid but fell in his next over when he chipped straight to mid-off as the opening stand was restricted to only 26.

#CT17 – Sri Lanka’s final practice session before Pakistan clash

Kusal Mendis and Dickwella batted with utmost confidence, especially when the former drove Junaid for two glorious boundaries as well as pulling off the hips. Hasan Ali who was exceptional against the Proteas’ bowled a cracking in-dipper which went through Mendis’ defenses to end a promising 56-run second wicket stand.   

Senior player, Dinesh Chandimal fell in the very next over when he carelessly dragged one onto the stumps to give debutant medium seamer, Faheem Ashraf his maiden ODI scalp. Skipper Angelo Mathews joined Dickwella to rebuild the innings and they did so perfectly adding 78 valuable runs with Pakistan loosening the grip of the game at 161/3 in 31 overs. The two left-arm seamers Mohammed Amir and Junaid Khan were brought back to the attack and they turned the game upside down.

Amir took his first wicket in the tournament when skipper Mathews dragged a short delivery onto the stumps in the 9th ball he faced off the left-arm seamers. Mathews’ average in ODIs against left-arm seam is 28.31, which is the lowest against any bowling type.

 Watch – Near Live ICC Digital Clips of the SLvIND match 

Dhananjaya De Silva who was flown in from Colombo to replace injured Kusal Janith Perera on Saturday was undone by a ripper of a delivery by Junaid as the ball seamed away off the surface to take the outside edge. Dickwella made a fighting 73 off 84 balls, his 4th ODI half-century before he became the 6th wicket as wicket-keeper Sarfraz held onto a brilliant one-handed catch, moving to the left as Amir picked up his 2nd scalp.

Sri Lanka lost their 7th wicket when Junaid Khan, who was terrorizing the Lankans from the onset, edged out Thisara Perera who gave a straightforward catch to first slip.  After being 161 for 3, Sri Lanka collapsed to 167/7 within 22 balls as the two left-arm seamers carved up the islanders with some exceptional bowling on a surface which had plenty for the bowlers.

Suranga Lakmal played an important little cameo of 26 off 34 with 3 fours to add 46 for the 8th wicket with Asela Gunarathne before the former was deceived by a Hasan Ali slower delivery which took the bails. Gunarathne holed out to deep after making a fighting 27 as Ali ended with 3 wickets and Ashraf ended his ODI debut with the final wicket of Pradeep.

Photo Album: Sri Lanka v Pakistan | ICC Champions Trophy 2017 – Match 12

Sri Lanka got off to a poor start in their defense of 236 when Danushka Gunathilaka failed to grab a sitter at point off Lasith Malinga in the very first over when Azhar Ali and Pakistan were yet to get off the mark.

Fakhar Zaman creamed Malinga through the covers for three boundaries as Pakistan picked up on their chase. Left-handed Zaman played his shots freely while Ali took the conservative route even though he launched Thisara Perera straight over the sight-screen onto River Taff.

Zaman reached his maiden ODI fifty off 34 balls but fell two balls later when he holed out to deep fine leg where Asela Gunarathne judged well to take a good catch off Nuwan Pradeep as the 74-run opening stand came to an end.  

When Pakistan was cruising on 92 for 1, Sri Lanka surged a comeback when one-drop batsman Babar Azam whipped it straight to mid-wicket to give Pradeep his 2nd scalp. In the very next over, Mohammed Hafeez ballooned a leading edge to mid-on off Perera for 1.

Skipper Mathews brought back his ace seamer Suranga Lakmal for his 2nd spell and he edged out set batsman Azhar Ali for 34. The battle of most experienced men between Lasith Malinga and Shoaib Malik was won by the Lankan when he cramped Malik with a bouncer as Dickwella held on to a smart catch down the leg-side. Imad Wasim feathered an outside off delivery to keeper as Pradeep picked up his 3rd wicket to put Pakistan in trouble at 137 for 6.

Debutant Ashraf made a run-a-ball 15 before he was caught short of his crease by a whisker at the non-strikers end when Perera’s delivery was hit straight back by Sarfraz and the ball deviated off the bowler’s fingertips before it hit the stumps.

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