LAHORE: Inexperienced Sri Lanka stunned Pakistan by 64 runs in the first Twenty20 international in Lahore on Saturday, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

A heavy presence of army personnel and police was seen in and around the Gaddafi Stadium who provided security to the players and fans.

Sri Lanka scored 165-5 in their 20 overs with Danushka Gunathilaka scoring 57 off 38 balls, including a six and eight boundaries, for which he was awarded the Man of the Match award. Teenage Pakistan paceman Mohammad Hasnain took a hat-trick, finishing with 3-37.

Pakistan were then bowled out for only 101 in 17.4 overs with Nuwan Pradeep and Isuru Udana taking three wickets apiece.

Gunathilaka shines with the bat; Mohammad Hasnain bags a hat-trick

Babar Azam (13 off 10) was the first man down at 1.5 overs, caught out from Pradeep’s delivery. The bowler took Umar Akmal’s wicket on the next ball but was not fortunate enough to score a hat-trick.

Ahmed Shehzad (4 off 9) found himself dismissed after dragging the ball onto his stumps, courtesy Udana. In a mix-up with skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed over a run — which according to ESPNcricinfo characterised much of Pakistan’s innings — Iftikhar Ahmed (25 off 24) had to exit at 11.3 overs.

The skipper (24 off 30) was next to go at 13.2 overs, when he was bowled out by Hasranga.

Over the course of the next three overs, Imad Wasim, Asif Ali and Faheem Ashraf all fell, leaving Shadab Khan and Mohammad Amir at the crease.

The 18th over saw the match end as the two batsmen were dismissed off the bowling of Udana, who by then had a three-wicket haul like Pradeep.

Earlier, the visitors raced to 84 with openers Gunathilaka scoring 57 off 38 balls and Avishka Fernando making 33 off 34. Debutant Bhanuka Rajapaksa scored 32 off 22 with two sixes and as many boundaries while skipper Dasun Shanaka chipped in with 17 including two sixes.

The surroundings of the stadium had been cordoned off by heavy deployment of the Rangers personnel and police commandos since Friday night, an official told Dawn. He said 25 major and small roads around the venue had been blocked for general traffic by placing containers and barriers.

More than 13,000 policemen manned roads. Snipers took up positions atop the buildings declared sensitive in the vicinity.

The second match of the series will be played on Monday and the third on Wednesday in Lahore.

Earlier this month, the ODI series held in Karachi was won by Pakistan 2-0.

Scoreboard

SRI LANKA:
M.D. Gunathilaka lbw b Shadab 57
W.I.A. Fernando run out 33
P.B.B. Rajapaksa lbw b Hasnain 32
M.D. Shanaka c Umar b Hasnain 17
S. Jayasuriya c Shehzad b Hasnain 2
I. Udana not out 5
W. Hasaranga not out 7

EXTRAS: (lb-6, w-6) 12
TOTAL: (for five wkts, 20 overs) 165
FALL OF WKTS: 1-84, 2-120, 3-135, 4-153, 5-153.
DID NOT BAT: M. Bhanuka, N. Pradeep, C.A.K. Rajitha, P.A.D.L.R. Sandakan.
BOWLING: Imad Wasim 4-0-24-0 (1w); Faheem Ashraf 3-0-31-0; Mohammad Hasnain 4-0-37-3 (2w); Mohammad Amir 4-0-25-0; Shadab Khan 4-0-35-1; Iftikhar Ahmed 1-0-7-0.

PAKISTAN:
B. Azam c Bhanuka b Pradeep 13
A. Shehzad b Udana 4
U. Akmal lbw b Pradeep 0
S. Ahmed b Hasaranga 24
I. Ahmed run out 25
A. Ali c Gunathilaka b Hasaranga 6
I. Wasim c Hasaranga b Rajitha 7
F. Ashraf c Gunathilaka b Pradeep 8
S. Khan c Fernando b Udana 6
M. Amir c Gunathilaka b Udana 1
M. Hasnain not out 0

EXTRAS: (LB-5, W-2) 7
TOTAL: (all out, 17.4 overs) 101
FALL OF WKTS: 1-13, 2-13, 3-22, 4-68, 5-76, 6-85, 7-87, 8-96, 9-101.
BOWLING: Rajitha 4-0-20-1; Pradeep 3-0-21-3 (1w); Udana 2.4-0-11-3; Hasaranga 4-0-20-2; Sandakan 4-0-24-0 (1w).

RESULT: Sri Lanka won by 64 runs to lead three-match series 1-0.
UMPIRES: Ahsan Raza (Pakistan) and Aleem Dar (Pakistan).
TV UMPIRE: Shozab Raza (Pakistan).
MATCH REFEREE: D.C. Boon (Australia).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Danushka Gunathilaka.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2019