PAK VS SL MATCH 8

Right then, that's all from this game. With this emphatic victory, Pakistan are now second in the standings. The action in the 2023 ODI World Cup continues on Wednesday, October 11th, when the hosts India will take on Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The first ball will be bowled at 2.00 pm IST (8.30 am GMT), but our build-up will begin much sooner. Until then, take care and goodbye!

Pakistan's skipper Babar Azam starts by thanking the almighty. Credits the bowlers and Abdullah Shafique and Mohammad Rizwan for the win. He says that they were not up to the mark in the first 30 overs and appreciates Kusal Mendis for his knock. He mentions that the bowlers did well to restrict the opposition at the end. He appreciates Abdullah Shafique for playing brilliantly and making the most out of this opportunity. He mentions that it is good to have others winning the match for them especially when the top order is out of form. He thanks the crowd for the support and the curators for preparing good pitches.

Sri Lanka's captain Dasun Shanaka starts off by appreciating Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama for their brilliant knocks and says that they both have worked hard for their acheivements but adds that they should have finished stronger. He mentions that with the way the wicket behaved, they were 30 runs short and credits the opposition for bowling well. He adds that they need to work on the number of extras bowled. He says that he will encourage the yougsters and motivate them to work harder.

Mohammad Rizwan is the Player of the Match for his scintillating knock of 131 runs from 121 balls. He says that it is a proud moment for him and to be involved in a match-winning performance is special. He adds that it was difficult and that he decided to build partnerships. He mentions that chasing 300+ is a difficult task and his discussion with Abdullah Shafique was about taking the innings forward step by step. He jokes that his cramps come up at important times.

Time for the presentation ceremony...

Earlier in the game, after Dasun Shanaka called it right and opted to bat first, Sri Lanka lost an early wicket in the form of Kusal Perera. Coming in at number 3, Kusal Mendis continued where he left off against South Africa and got his side off to a decent start alongside Pathum Nissanka. The two batters were watchful in the first few overs and slowly began to take on the Pakistan bowlers. Nissanka departed shortly after reaching his fifty, but Mendis was unperturbed and took the innings forward with Sadeera Samarawickrama. Thanks to centuries from Mendis and Samarawickrama, Sri Lanka had a solid base for their innings. They could not finish in a fashion they would have liked, but the two centurions had done enough to get Sri Lanka to a daunting total. For Pakistan, Hasan Ali was on the expensive side but had four wickets to his name. Haris Rauf accounted for two wickets, while Shaheen Afridi, Shadab Khan, and Mohammad Nawaz took one wicket each.

As far as Sri Lanka are concerned, it was a game of two halves for them. Having missed out on a few runs towards the back end of their innings, it was more than made up with a good start with the ball from Dilshan Madushanka. With the wickets of Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam, Madushanka put Pakistan in some early trouble. However, once the first powerplay ended, Sri Lanka were unable to mount the pressure, which opened the floodgates for Pakistan. The spinners were not effective as well, and Dasun Shanaka soon began to run out of options in the middle phase. Thanks to a blinder by Dushan Hemantha to get rid of Abdullah Shafique, Sri Lanka sensed an opening but they were stalled by the gritty stand between Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel. It was all Pakistan post that as the wheels began to come off for Sri Lanka as Mohammad Rizwan saw his side home comfortably.

In their pursuit of 345, Pakistan's opening struggles continued as Imam-ul-Haq departed cheaply. They were pegged back even more as skipper Babar Azam was dismissed for another low score. Abdullah Shafique and Mohammad Rizwan then got together and started the rebuilding job. After the field restrictions were lifted, both batters changed gears and got Pakistan's chase on track with a 176-run stand. Replacing Fakhar Zaman for this game, Shafique repaid the faith shown in him with his maiden ODI hundred, while Rizwan was at his fluent best. Shafiuque's departure did not deter Rizwan nor did the cramps as he marched his way to his third ODI hundred. He found an able ally in Saud Shakeel as did Iftikhar Ahmed who provided the finishing touches before Rizwan hit the winning runs. Pakistan cruised to a victory with 10 balls to spare and 6 wickets in hand.

Wow, we have witnessed an absolute run-fest in Hyderabad! Pakistan pull off the highest run chase in ODI World Cup history and make it two wins out of two in the 2023 ODI World Cup. On the other hand, Sri Lanka have been handed their second straight defeat, and Dasun Shanaka's men now have a lot to ponder.

Dilshan Madushanka goes full and on off. Mohammad Rizwan drives it towards cover and takes the single needed to seal this match as Pakistan pulls off this mammoth run chase. Pakistan win by 6 wickets!

A full toss on off. Mohammad Rizwan flicks it off to mid-wicket.

A slow yorker on middle. Mohammad Rizwan digs it out to mid on for a single. 1 run required to win.

FOUR! What a shot! Matheesha Pathirana drops it short and outside off. Mohammad Rizwan pulls it away wide of deep mid-wicket all the way racing to the fence for another four.

Another full toss on off. Iftikhar Ahmed drives it to mid off for a single.

FOUR! Again! Matheesha Pathirana goes very full and outside off. Iftikhar Ahmed drives it in the gap and wide of deep cover as the ball runs away to the fence for another boundary.

On length but way outside off. Iftikhar Ahmed leaves it alone as the umpire signals a wide.

FOUR! Lucky! Matheesha Pathirana bowls a full toss on the pads. Iftikhar Ahmed gets a leading edge sending the ball over short fine leg all the way running to the fence for another boundary.

FOUR! Shot! Matheesha Pathirana goes full and on middle. Iftikhar Ahmed lofts it straight over the bowler's head all the way bouncing away to the fence for four runs.