Jayawardene hit a six and nine fours in his 93-ball 75 and added 156 runs with Lahiru Thirimanne for the third wicket. Thirimanne and Mahela Jayawardene brought up their 150-run stand off 154 balls.
Jayawardene reached his first half-century in 13 innings off 76 deliveries while Thirimanne reached his seventh ODI fifty off 52 balls. Such was the strokemaking of Thirimanne and Jayawardene that they reached their partnership milestones with effortless ease. Their 100-run stand came off 103 balls and their 50-run stand came off 58 balls.
The partnership came after Saeed Ajmal dismissed Kusal Perera and Kumar Sangakkara off his first two deliveries to rattle Sri Lanka.
Perera strangely charged out of the crease on the very first delivery by Ajmal but missed it completely for Umar Akmal to complete the stumping. Perera slammed a six and six fours in his 37-ball 42 before falling to Ajmal.
Ajmal then trapped Sangakkara plumb in front of the wicket for a first-ball duck and changed the complexion of the game by reducing Sri Lanka to 56/2.
Ajmal’s double strike came after Perera and Lahiru Thirimanne brought up the Sri Lankan fifty in 9.4 overs. The fine start of the Sri Lankan run chase came after good show by Fawad Alam (114*) and Umar Akmal (59) negated Lasith Malinga’s fiery spell (5/56) to help Pakistan set a 261-run target.
Jayawardene reached his first half-century in 13 innings off 76 deliveries while Thirimanne reached his seventh ODI fifty off 52 balls. Such was the strokemaking of Thirimanne and Jayawardene that they reached their partnership milestones with effortless ease. Their 100-run stand came off 103 balls and their 50-run stand came off 58 balls.
The partnership came after Saeed Ajmal dismissed Kusal Perera and Kumar Sangakkara off his first two deliveries to rattle Sri Lanka.
Perera strangely charged out of the crease on the very first delivery by Ajmal but missed it completely for Umar Akmal to complete the stumping. Perera slammed a six and six fours in his 37-ball 42 before falling to Ajmal.
Ajmal then trapped Sangakkara plumb in front of the wicket for a first-ball duck and changed the complexion of the game by reducing Sri Lanka to 56/2.
Ajmal’s double strike came after Perera and Lahiru Thirimanne brought up the Sri Lankan fifty in 9.4 overs. The fine start of the Sri Lankan run chase came after good show by Fawad Alam (114*) and Umar Akmal (59) negated Lasith Malinga’s fiery spell (5/56) to help Pakistan set a 261-run target.