Second ODI: Azam, Shadab lift Pakistan to 32-run victory

E-Paper | March 16, 2026

Babar Azam hit a second successive century and Shadab Khan put up a strong all-round performance in Pakistan's 32-run victory over Sri Lanka in the second one-day international on Monday.

Azam scored 101 off 133 balls a day after celebrating his 23rd birthday while Shadab dug in to score 52 not out to lift Pakistan's total to 219-9.

Captain Upul Tharanga scored an unbeaten 112 and became the first Sri Lanka batsman to carry his bat in an ODI, before his team was bowled out for 187 in 48 overs.

Shadab outfoxed batsmen with his leg-spin to finish with 3-47 in yet another Sri Lanka top-order batting collapse.

Azam and Shadab featured in a century stand after Pakistan slipped to 101-6 against seamers Lahiru Gamage (4-57) and Thisara Perera (2-34).

Babar Azam celebrates after scoring century.—AP

Earlier, Imad Wasim followed Shoaib Malik and skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed to the pavilion after being judged lbw on Jeffrey Vandersay's ball. He scored 10 runs.

Mohammad Hafeez was caught behind on the last ball of the first power play for eight, right after he hit Gamage for a straight six.

Shadab Khan and Babar Azam run between the wicket. —AFP

Zaman was out for 11, caught in the slips facing Lahiru Gamage, bringing in the in-form Babar Azam. Ahmed Shehzad was able to make only eight runs before being caught trying to hit Suranga Lakmal for a four.

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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad

Oct 16, 2017 03:51pm

Hopefully green-shirts could demonstrate unity, faith and discipline on and off the field in the second ODI against Sri Lanka being played at the historic Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi-UAE and carry on the same spirit in the days to come.

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South Asian

Oct 16, 2017 04:13pm

Best of luck Players

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Ismail

Oct 16, 2017 04:35pm

Ahmed Shehzad s good for nothing except that he knows some people in authority to be selected. He is useless fielder. Useless batsman. Why selected Inzmam should be asked to explain.

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Khan

Oct 16, 2017 04:39pm

Ahmed Bhai you are the best....Please keep it up.....No need push the bat...Just stay in 16 & Enjoy the life....

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Khurram

Oct 16, 2017 05:21pm

M. Hafeez, the legend grows!

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Sidra

Oct 16, 2017 05:25pm

Why Ahmed Shezad??? Why not Faheem ashraf??? Selectors will have to kick out Shehzad and give a chance to Faheem as opener...

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Suresh Parasher

Oct 16, 2017 05:26pm

fighting spirit is not there in Pak teams, be it Hockey or Cricket,

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Sidra

Oct 16, 2017 05:30pm

Babar is really a great emerging talent...

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Anti-Corruption_Pakistani

Oct 16, 2017 05:39pm

Bad start and here we go again losing early wickets by playing poor shots without settling down. Same old story of either overconfidence or weak mindsets!

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South Asian

Oct 16, 2017 06:14pm

PAK 113/6 (32 Ovs) Babar playing sensible cricket hope Shadab will support him, poor show by opening and upper order

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LOUDSPEAKER

Oct 16, 2017 06:16pm

Pakistan are 113 for 6 after 32 overs. Sri Lankan bowlers right on top. Looks like Pakistan is going to loose this ODI.

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M. Emad

Oct 16, 2017 06:37pm

Congratulations in advance, Sri Lanka cricket team.

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Arshad patel

Oct 16, 2017 07:19pm

Pakistan will loose this and the next; will win the fourth in a dramatic fashion - Selfie Boy Shahzad's score will lead to Pakistan's series tying victory, will save his spot on the team and will also help winning the fifth game for Pakistan as 3-2! Re: T/20 - Pakistan and Sri Lanka will split 1 each before final in Lahore where Pakistan will loose in a very dramatic fashion!!!

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Waseem sarwar

Oct 16, 2017 07:39pm

Thankfully Baber and Shadab took us to a fighting score on this pitch. Our younger PSL lot is carrying the team forward which is a very good thing for future.

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Rags

Oct 16, 2017 07:48pm

Matured and terrific innings by Babar - the spinner batted well too

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South Asian

Oct 16, 2017 07:48pm

219/9 (50) Not a good total to defend but hope the blowers will show some courage and take early wickets to put the pressure

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John

Oct 16, 2017 07:57pm

Ahmad Shehzad should try playing left handed in the next match.

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John

Oct 16, 2017 08:00pm

Don't know who will end up winning this, but Babar clearly played selfish cricket in the death overs. Instead of going after the bowling from 44 onwards, he kept on taking singles for his century. Ths score could have easily reached 235-240. If SL plays sensible cricket and don't loose more than a wicket in first 10 then the match is theirs.

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Ch beg mulla

Oct 16, 2017 08:08pm

Top order failed again. Babur knows how to build innings

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South Asian

Oct 16, 2017 08:26pm

SL 10/1 (2.2 Ovs)

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Kashif

Oct 16, 2017 08:46pm

It is difficult to understand the decision to include Ahmed Shehzad, it can't be his performance for sure, can anyone explain the reason that why he is still in team after so many failures?

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REVERSESWING

Oct 16, 2017 08:46pm

Certainly not a good start for Sri Lanka too. Dickwella who has been in tremendous form this season is back in the pavilion. Big blow to Sri Lanka. Looks like this is going to be a close finish.

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BACKFIRE

Oct 16, 2017 09:11pm

No more unnecessary appeals. Hassan Ali's appeal for LBW has been turned down by both field and third umpire. How can one expect to get LBW decission in his favour when he pitched the ball outside leg the leg stump. Now Pakistan is left with no chance to review a decision in the rest of the innings.

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Sab se pehle pakistan

Oct 16, 2017 10:19pm

Why in the world Imad Wasim is in the ODI team? If he cannot spin the ball an inch in UAE then do I have to say more about his bowling caliber. In addition a below average batsman, fielder with a pathetic attitude. Please bring some talented youngster instead. We need to get rud of Ahmed Shazad for good as well.

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LOUDSPEAKER

Oct 16, 2017 10:20pm

It's 6 for 92 in 27.2 overs. Shadab has dismissed two Sri Lankan batsmen in the space of just two overs and Mohammad Hafeez has Thisara Preira caught by Babar at first slip. This ODI has slipped away from Sri Lanka's hands.

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Sab se pehle pakistan

Oct 16, 2017 10:27pm

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optimist

Oct 16, 2017 11:47pm

Sarfaraz is not captain material nor he has the temperament to be captain. Azhar Ali is the right person to be test captain while Shoaib Malik should be the ODI captain.

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AXH

Oct 16, 2017 11:59pm

@M. Emad - "Congratulations in advance, Sri Lanka cricket team." Sorry for the disappointment. On the same topic, it seems that SA recently plunged BD in an OID by chasing down 280 odd runs with no wicket down.

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vorshal

Oct 17, 2017 12:03am

Great game for Pakistan (ODI ranked # 7) against Sri Lanka (ODI ranked # 6). Pitch did not seem to be batter-friendly. Congratulations. Continue to show improvements and move up the ladder!

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AXH

Oct 17, 2017 12:24am

@vorshal - "Great game for Pakistan (ODI ranked # 7) against Sri Lanka (ODI ranked # 6)." Correction, Pakistan is currently ranked #6 in ODI and SL at #8.

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Khan USA

Oct 17, 2017 12:41am

Congrats Green shirts ! You are the best !

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manzoor

Oct 17, 2017 12:42am

Poor batting and fielding by the Pakistan team.

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Khan USA

Oct 17, 2017 12:42am

Ahmed Shehzad needs to be sent home !

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Hadi

Oct 17, 2017 12:54am

So far so good CT Champions! 3/4 month gap clearly showed in the test series, getting into the groove, lets keep going :-)

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Shahid

Oct 17, 2017 01:01am

Good job Pakistan. Congratulations! It was a good match from both sides. Thank you for playing a good cricket.

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FLIPPER

Oct 17, 2017 01:11am

Congratulations to Green Shirts on their hard earned victory against Sri Lanka in the second ODI at Abu Dhabi. Sri Lankan skipper Tharanga's fighting innings almost brought Sri Lanka close to winning position but the fall of Darnasay's wicket and two unnecessary run outs paved way for Pakistan's victory .

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Pakistani

Oct 17, 2017 01:38am

Sarafaraz must justify his place. Shahzad should be sent back to domestic cricket.

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vorshal

Oct 17, 2017 02:02am

@AXH -- You are right. I stand corrected. No offense intended. Thank you!

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Raheel Khan

Oct 17, 2017 02:16am

We need to concentrate on the batting as this our week link.

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Sarah

Oct 17, 2017 03:37am

@Hadi Pakistan ODI side is fine.There winning streak tells it all which has demolished all teams on the way.Main reason has been number of all rounders playing in same team while bowlers have been dismantling others.They could grooms few of ODI players for Test cricket hopefully.

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FLIPPER

Oct 17, 2017 04:34am

@vorshal We are not interested in rankings. We beleive in upsetting even the (statistically ) the best team in the world.

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FLIPPER

Oct 17, 2017 05:43am

@Arshad patel You are 100 % right. This is Najam Sethi 's grand plan to restore International Cricket in Pakistan.

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Pakistani

Oct 17, 2017 07:59am

@M. Emad . Too soon brother. Should have waited a little longer to congratulate Sri Lanka. By the way really sad to read the mauling received by Bangladesh from the South Africans.

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Arju

Oct 17, 2017 08:08am

Ahmed Shehzad should be replaced by Haris Sohail in 3rd ODI. Ahmad is also a very talented player but not being able to play up to his potential at the moment. I sense he is a better test player than ODI. Other members of this ODI team look very good (Availability of Amir will make it even better team for the next world cup).

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Naveed khan

Oct 17, 2017 09:03am

If Ahmad Shahzad can't score against Sri lanka than how can you expect him against Australia and NZ etc ? send him back if he did not score in third

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ray

Oct 17, 2017 09:12am

@optimist I think Sarfaraz is the best thing to have happened to the Pakistan ODI setup. Look at his record of wins and then make a comment. The Pakistani team is full of young but lethargic players, unless Sarfaraz keeps them on their toes, they will not give their best. Imran Khan used to abuse players who were lazy and didn't try hard. Sarfaraz just shows displeasure. Shoaib Malik has a stigma of match-fixing with him. Best to keep him away from the settling unit.

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Ali Vaqar Awan

Oct 17, 2017 09:45am

It was an interesting match. Babar Azam played with temperament. Shahdab Khan all round performance proved handy. The wicket was hard to bat on. It was a classical match in which 220 was enough for Pakistan to win. Ahmad Shahzad needs to be axed as performance has been substandard. The win was a big relief after defeat in test match. Harris Sohail needs to be in place of Shahzad. Sarfaraz needs to move up the order as he needs to time to play his shots.

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BAXAR

Oct 17, 2017 12:49pm

@optimist "Sarfaraz is not captain material nor he has the temperament to be captain." Can you describe the captain material without naming a person who has it? Don't worry about Sarfaraz, he's not going to last long. Most of the PCB is in agreement with you, but they always end up with him. Tough luck.

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Gaurav

Oct 17, 2017 04:11pm

The difference is in Captaincy of Tharanga. He is unimaginative, uninspiring and one-dimensional. SL should have continued with Chandimal.

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H.H Shah

Oct 17, 2017 05:21pm

The Hero of pak team Ahmed Shahzad just missed his double century by 198 runs. Sad for him.

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Riaz Ahmed

Oct 17, 2017 06:45pm

looked like they were desperate to lose all part of the plan except Shadab and Barbar had self respect and dignity that their parents instilled everybody else including sarfaraz are trying to make the bookies happy

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JACKJONES

Oct 17, 2017 07:05pm

Good game. Disappointed Pakistan only scored 219 runs. However, they fought after a collapse and that is commendable. Bowling was excellent. In the next match we need to replace Ahmad Shazad with Faheem Ashraf. Ahmad is not performing and needs a break. We need our openers to score at least 60 to 100 runs. Is Imad Wasim going to bowl in the third match? Catching and fielding was poor I think we should have gotten Sri Lanka team all out for less than 125 runs.

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Shazad

Oct 17, 2017 07:15pm

@Kashif: 'It is difficult to understand the decision to include Ahmed Shehzad, it can't be his performance for sure, can anyone explain the reason that why he is still in team after so many failures?' Shehzad threatened PCB management that if he would be dropped than he would lead a procession from Islamabad to PCB headquarter in Lahore, asking the management 'Mujhay kewn Nikala'.

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