COLOMBO: A brilliant unbeaten century by Pakistan Captain Nisar Ali (121 not out) and a blazing 83 by Muhammad Rashid helped Pakistan score their second successive ODI win against Sri Lanka to go up 2-0 in the three match series at the BRC Ground here on Friday.

Pakistan, chasing a formidable target of 384 for victory, reached the required runs for the loss of just four wickets with 6.2 overs to spare.

Earlier, hosts Sri Lanka who were sent in to bat, batted well to reach a formidable score of 383-9 in the stipulated 40 overs, thanks to a fabulous 138 off just 102 balls by Chandana Deshpriya.

Pakistani bowlers were disciplined in the beginning but afterwards bowled in a wayward fashion to concede as many as 64 extras. Mohsin Khan claimed 2 wickets for Pakistan while Badar Munir, Sajid Nawaz, Fakhar Abbas and Ayoub Khan claimed a wicket a piece.

In reply, the visiting side lost early wickets of openers Mohsin eand Ayoub Khan but then Riasat Khan took control to score a fluent 50. However, his dismissal put thing in balance and Sri lanka were still in with a good chance to win the match.

But then came the breath-taking partnership between Rashid and Nisar who took complete charge of the Sri Lankan bowlers and played aggressively.

Man-of-the-match Nisar played a captain’s innings and remained unbeaten on 121 scored off just 61 balls with 21 boundaries. Rashid’s 83 comprised seven fours and one six.

Pakistan chased the target off 384 runs in just 33.4 overs for the loss of four wickets.

The 3rd ODI of the series will be played on Monday, Feb 25 at Bloomfield Ground Colombo.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2019