By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: Mohammad Rizwan and Abdullah Shafique smashed unbeaten centuries as Pakistan pulled off the highest successful run chase in World Cup history, beating Sri Lanka by six wickets in a thrilling Group B match on Tuesday.
Rizwan (131 not out) and Shafique (113) shared a 176-run stand for the third wicket to rescue Pakistan from a precarious 22-2 after Sri Lanka had piled up 344-9, thanks to hundreds from Kusal Mendis (122) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (108).
Rizwan, who battled leg cramps in the latter part of his innings, hit eight fours and three sixes in his 121-ball knock, while Shafique struck 10 fours and three sixes in his 103-ball effort.
The duo kept up with the required run rate and took the attack to the Sri Lankan bowlers, who looked helpless in the face of their onslaught.
Rizwan reached his third one-day international hundred with a single off spinner Dhananjaya de Silva in the 38th over, while Shafique brought up his maiden ton with a boundary off seamer Dilshan Madushanka in the 33rd over.
Shafique was dismissed soon after by Matheesha Pathirana, but Rizwan found an able partner in Saud Shakeel (31), who added 95 runs for the fourth wicket to take Pakistan closer to the target.
Rizwan hit the winning single off Madushanka in the 49th over and celebrated with his teammates as Pakistan completed the highest successful chase in World Cup history, surpassing Ireland’s 329-7 against England in 2011.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam praised Rizwan and Shafique for their match-winning partnership and said the win would boost their confidence ahead of their clash with arch-rivals India on Saturday.
“It was a great performance by both of them. They showed great character and temperament. They played according to the situation and took us home,” Azam said at the presentation ceremony.
“It was a tough chase but we knew we had the batting depth and firepower. We just needed one big partnership and they gave us that. This win will give us a lot of confidence for the next game.”
“Whenever you perform for your country and the performance is like that to win the match, it leaves you speechless,” said player of the match Rizwan. “It was difficult and when you chase like that it’s always special. In the dressing room after we bowled, every player had the belief that we were going to chase that.”
Sri Lanka skipper Kusal Perera rued the dropped catches of Mendis, who was put down twice by Shaheen Shah Afridi and Imam-ul-Haq when he was on 18, and said his team needed to improve their fielding and bowling.
“We had a good total on the board but we didn’t bowl well. We also dropped some crucial catches which cost us the game. We need to work on our fielding and bowling. We have to learn from our mistakes and come back stronger,” he said.
Earlier, Mendis and Samarawickrama scored brilliant centuries to power Sri Lanka to a mammoth total after they won the toss and opted to bat.
Mendis hit 14 fours and six sixes in his 77-ball knock, which was the fastest hundred by a Sri Lankan in World Cup history, surpassing Kumar Sangakkara’s 70-ball ton against England in 2015.
Samarawickrama hit 11 fours and two sixes in his 89-ball innings, which was his first ODI hundred.
The pair added 111 runs for the third wicket after Nissanka (51) had put on 102 runs with Mendis for the second wicket following the early dismissal of Perera for a duck.
Mendis was eventually caught in the deep off Hasan Ali, who was the pick of the Pakistan bowlers with four wickets, while Samarawickrama fell to Haris Rauf in the final over.
Pakistan will next face India in Ahmedabad on Saturday, while Sri Lanka will take on South Africa in Mumbai on Sunday.
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