Babar Azam smacks a century after 807 days; propels Pakistan to a series win over Sri Lanka

Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam has smacked his 20th ODI century as Pakistan bagged a convincing eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second game of the three-match series to seal the series 2-0 with one more game to go.

Delving into the details of the game, Sri Lanka batted first and posted a daunting total of 288/8 in 50 overs. Janith Liyanage (54), Kamindu Mendis (44) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (42) played important knocks. Haris Rauf and Abrar Ahmed scalped three wickets apiece.

In response, Pakistan took 48.2 overs to seal the deal with eight wickets in hand. Babar Azam was the wrecker-in-chief with a 102-run unbeaten knock off 119 balls with eight fours. Fakhar Zaman also scored 78 runs in 93 balls while Mohammad Rizwan smacked 51* off 54 balls.

“I wanted to believe in myself and my hard work. I was getting off to good starts, I wasn't able to live up to the expectations. I was getting out at wrong times. I was just trying my best. It's an honour to get past all the records of all legends,” Babar Azam said after the match.

“It was a complete batting performance. We had three good partnerships, I think we chased it really well. I think it was a 320-330 kind of a wicket, but I am happy that we could restrict them to 280-290 odd. It's always good to restrict them to such a total,” Stand-in captain Salman Agha said after the series win.

“I think we were 20-30 runs short. We could have done well in the top-order. In these two games, that has been the case. In the previous series we have scored more hundreds, especially our top-order. Our seamers gave away too many wides and extras, it's hard to come back from that situation,” Sri Lankan skipper Charith Asalanka said.

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