Usman destroys SL as Pakistan sweep ODI series
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SHARJAH: Left-arm paceman Usman Shinwari destroyed Sri Lanka with a five-wicket burst to help Pakistan achieve a convincing nine-wicket win in the fifth and final match for a 5-0 clean sweep of the One-day International series on Monday.
Usman’s career-best 5-34 in seven overs reduced Sri Lanka to 103 all out in 26.2 overs at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium before openers Fakhar Zaman (48) and Imam-ul-Haq (45 not out) knocked off the paltry target in 20.2 overs.
Imam raised the victory by cutting spinner Jeffrey Vandersay to the boundary as Pakistan made a remarkable turnaround of form with a 5-0 victory after losing the Test series 2-0.
“The way Usman bowled, I guess it’s not seen quite a lot in cricket that you dismiss half the side within your first three overs,” Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed said. “The good thing is that (our) bench strength is getting stronger and stronger and more good players are coming.”
This is Pakistan’s sixth whitewash in a five-match ODI series. They had blanked Zimbabwe (2002 and 2008), Bangladesh (2003 and 2008) and New Zealand in 2003 in the past.
The result was never in doubt once man-of-the-match Usman assisted by man-of-the-series Hasan Ali (2-19) and Shadab Khan (2-24) had destroyed Sri Lanka who had totals of 209, 187, 208 and 173 in the series.
The win is Pakistan’s ninth on the trot since winning the Champions Trophy in June this year while Sri Lanka plummeted to their 12th defeat in a row, also losing 5-0 each to South Africa and India this year.
Fakhar hit seven boundaries in his 47-ball knock before he fell with just 20 needed. Imam hit the winning boundary, finishing his 64-ball knock with four boundaries and a six.
But it was Pakistan’s new find Usman who rocked the Sri Lankans.
The 23-year-old finished with 5-34 as Sri Lanka, who won the toss and batted on an easy paced pitch, never recovered from early jolts of losing four wickets in the first three overs.
Usman termed it his best bowling in the entire career.
“Yes, you can say this is my best performance,” Usman said at the post-match presentation. “Our bowling coach [Azhar Mahmood] always tells us to attack from the first ball and I did that and got wickets.
“It wasn’t easy, but the environment of the team is as such that it gives you a lot of confidence,” Usman added.
Sri Lankan skipper Upul Tharanga showed disappointment over the loss.
“For the last 15-18 months we are losing because of poor batting,” said Tharanga, referring to Sri Lanka’s defeats which also included their first-ever loss to minnows Zimbabwe at home. “We had no answer to Pakistan’s bowling in the series and today we lost four wickets inside three overs and it was tough to come back after that.”
Only Thisara Perera (25), Lahiru Thirimanne (19), Seekkuge Prasanna (16) and Dushmantha Chameera (11) reached double figures in an abysmal batting performance by Sri Lanka, their second lowest total in an ODI against Pakistan.
Their lowest total of 78 against Pakistan had also come at Sharjah in 2002.
Usman, who debuted in the fourth one-day of this series, bowled Sadeera Samarawickrama with the fifth ball of the match for nought and then had Dinesh Chandimal next ball, caught behind without scoring.
In his next over he Tharanga bowled off a nippy delivery for eight and then trapped Niroshan Dickwella leg before with the fifth to leave Sri Lanka tottering at 8-4.
Usman completed his maiden five-wicket haul when he had Milinda Siriwardana (six) caught by Fakhar Zaman, his wickets coming off just 21 balls — third fastest to five wickets in an ODI.
Perera hit three boundaries and a six before he became one of two wickets by leg-spinner Shadab in one over. Hasan finished with 14 wickets in the series.
The two teams now play a three-match Twenty20 International series, the first two in Abu Dhabi on Thursday and Friday while the last in Lahore on Sunday.
Scoreboard
SRI LANKA:
W.U. Tharanga b Usman 8
S. Samarawickrama b Usman 0
L.D. Chandimal c Sarfraz b Usman 0
H.D.R.L. Thirimanne c Sarfraz b Hasan 19
N. Dickwella lbw b Usman 0
T.A.M. Siriwardana c Fakhar b Usman 6
S. Prasanna run out 16
N.L.T.C. Perera c Fahim b Shadab 25
J.D.F. Vandersay lbw b Shadab 2
P.V.D. Chameera b Hasan 11
M.V.T. Fernando not out 7
EXTRAS (LB-1, W-8) 9
TOTAL (all out, 26.2 overs) 103
FALL OF WKTS: 1-1, 2-1, 3-8, 4-8, 5-20, 6-49, 7-63, 8-85, 9-85.
BOWLING: Usman Khan Shinwari
7-0-34-5 (5w); Fahim Ashraf 4-0-12-0 (1w); Imad Wasim 4-1-12-0 (2w); Hasan Ali 5.2-0-19-2; Shadab Khan 5-1-24-2; Mohammad Hafeez 1-0-1-0.
PAKISTAN:
Imam-ul-Haq not out 45
Fakhar Zaman c Dickwella b Vandersay 48
Fahim Ashraf not out 5
EXTRAS (LB-2, W-5) 7
TOTAL (for one wkt, 20.2 overs) 105
FALL OF WKT: 1-84.
DID NOT BAT: Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Usman Khan Shinwari.
BOWLING: Chameera 4-1-13-0; Fernando 4-1-21-0; Vandersay 6.2-0-30-1 (5w); Perera 2-0-18-0; Prasanna 4-0-21-0.
RESULT: Pakistan won by nine wickets to win five-match series 5-0.
UMPIRES: Ahsan Raza (Pakistan) and S. Ravi (India).
TV UMPIRE: R.A. Kettleborough (England).
MATCH REFEREE: A.J. Pycroft (Zimbabwe).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Usman Khan Shinwari.
MAN-OF-THE-SERIES: Hasan Ali.
FIRST MATCH: Dubai, Pakistan won by 83 runs.
SECOND MATCH: Abu Dhabi, Pakistan won by 32 runs.
THIRD MATCH: Abu Dhabi, Pakistan won by seven wickets.
FOURTH MATCH: Sharjah, Pakistan won by seven wickets.
Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2017
