Mohammad Hafeez, Imad Wasim dominate as Pakistan defeats Sri Lanka

The experienced Mohammad Hafeez and the young all-rounder Imad Wasim starred for Pakistan in the 15 runs victory over Sri Lanka in the final warm-up game at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The ‘Professor’ stroked a fine innings of 70 runs off just 49 balls to help Pakistan reach a respectable 157/5 in 20 overs. Imad Wasim then snapped up 4/25 with his left arm orthodox bowling to completely hamper the Lankan chase and hand Pakistan a relatively easy victory.

Pakistan batted after winning the flip of the coin. New opening pair of Sharjeel Khan and Ahmed Shehzad got their team to a steady start. However, the pair was sent back to the dugout quickly. Sachitra Senanayake was the first to strike after he clean bowled Sharjeel (23 from 21 balls) whereas Dushmanta Chameera also managed to breach the defense of Ahmed Shehzad (18 from 19 balls).

Mohammad Hafeez  batted sturdily and kept the run rate going at brisk pace but batsmen at the other end could make any major difference. Sarfraz Ahmed (13 from 14 balls) looked sloppy whereas Skipper Shahid Afridi registered a golden duck. Umar Akmal’s 15 balls 19 run knock did help the final score a bit.

Matthews used 7 bowlers today with an aim of letting everybody have some match practice. The most successful one among them was Thisara Perera (2/21).

Sri Lanka, in reply, lost Tillakaratne Dilshan for a duck in the 2nd over. Dinesh Chandimal (30 from 21 balls) and Lahiru Thirimane (45 from 37 balls) batted excellently and managed to keep the Lankans in the chase before Imad Wasim attacked with his left arm spin and removed both the batters. Wasim claimed two more important wickets of Chamara Kapugedara and Angelo Matthews. The middle order batsmen could handle the Pakistan bowling attack as Sri Lanka lost their track from that stage.

Sachitra Senanayake and Dasun Shanaka did try to swing their batsman and win the game but in the Pakistan prevailed and won the match.

Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka had a very dismal Asia Cup T20. The Asian Giants almost have a similar set of problems to deal with and are in a need of giving a strong performance in the World T20. It would be great to see how both the teams fare in Super 10 Stage of the mega event which starts from tomorrow.

Brief Scores:

Pakistan: 157/5 in 20 overs (Mohammad Hafeez 70; Thisara Perera 2/21)

Sri Lanka: 142/9 in 20 overs (Lahiru Thirimanne 45; Imad Wasim 4/25)