(Reuters) – Sohaib Maqsood and Fawad Alam struck quick-fire fifties and combined in a record 147-run sixth wicket stand as Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by four wickets with one ball remaining in the first one-day international at Hambantota yesterday.
Shahid Afridi (14 not out) hit a boundary off Nuwan Kulasekara as the visitors, chasing 275 in 45 overs in the rain-hit match, reached their Duckworth-Lewis revised target to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews earlier bailed his team out of trouble with his highest one-day international score as the hosts made 275 for seven in their 45 overs after Misbah-ul-Haq had won the toss and put Sri Lanka in under overcast conditions.
Pakistan looked dead and buried at 106 for five in the 23rd over but Alam (62) and Maqsood (89 not out) consolidated the innings and then launched a counter-attack to throw the Sri Lankan bowling into disarray.
