In the eighth match of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, Pakistan batsman Abdullah Shafique scored a brilliant century in Sri Lanka’s pursuit of the target of 345 runs.
Right-handed batsman Abdullah Shafique has scored a century in his very first World Cup match, becoming the first Pakistani batsman to achieve this feat.
Pakistan has scored 213 runs for the loss of 3 wickets in 33 overs. Opener Imam-ul-Haq 12 and captain Babar Azam returned to the pavilion for 10 runs while Abdullah Shafique was dismissed for 113 runs.
Currently, Mohammad Rizwan has completed his half-century and is at the crease with Saud Shakeel.
This match is being played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad where Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka invited captain Babar Azam to the field.
Sri Lanka scored 344 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in the allotted 50 overs, Kusal Mendis scored 122 runs and Sadeera Samarawickrama scored 108 runs.
This is the highest score by any team against Pakistan in a World Cup match, the previous highest score against Pakistan in a World Cup was 336 runs scored by India in 2019.
A change has been made in the national team today, Abdullah Shafique has been included in the team in place of opener Fakhar Zaman.
Sri Lanka’s Innings World Cup 2023
Sri Lanka, who won the toss and batted first against Pakistan, did not have a good start to the innings. Kusal Perera was caught out by Hasan Ali for a total score of just 5.
Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis shared a partnership of 102 runs for the second wicket, but then Nissanka returned to the pavilion after scoring 51 runs.
After the fall of 2 wickets, Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama charged the batsmen against the Pakistani bowlers put on attractive shorts all around the ground, and batted aggressively. Meanwhile, Mendis also scored Sri Lanka’s fastest World Cup century, reaching 100 off 65 balls.
Mendis and Samarawickrama put on a 111-run partnership but then Mendis was dismissed for 122 off 77 balls while newcomer Charith Asalanka returned to the pavilion on one run.
Apart from that, De Silva scored 25 runs, while Samarawickrama, on the other hand, also scored her first century of ODI career. He played an innings of 108 runs off 89 balls.
Dasun Shanaka played an innings of 12 runs and Dunith Wellalage 10 runs, thus Sri Lanka scored 344 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in the allotted 50 overs.
On behalf of Pakistan, Hasan Ali took 4 wickets, Haris Rauf took 2 wickets, and Shadab, Nawaz, and Shaheen Afridi took one wicket each.
It should be noted that this is the second match of both the teams in World Cup 2023, in this mega event Pakistan defeated the Netherlands by 81 runs in their first match while Sri Lanka was defeated by South Africa by 102 runs.