SHARJAH: Sri Lanka only managed to score 173 runs against Pakistan in the fourth of the five ODI series here at Sharjah.
Captain Upal Tharanga won the toss and opted to bat first but none of the Sri Lankan batsmen could score much against the Pakistani bowling.
Usman Khan making his ODI debut for Pakistan and Sadeera Samarawickrama for Sri Lanka.
Pakistan leading the five matches cricket series with 3-0. Sri Lanka have lost past 10 one-day matches in a trot.
Historic Sharjah stadium, which is still the leading one-day venue in the world, will also play host to the 5th ODI on Monday, October 23.
Sarfraz Ahmed, the Pakistan captain, wanted his team to keep their ruthless approach going in the fourth One-day International against Sri Lanka, despite having taken an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
Pakistan thumped a sloppy Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the third match in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday on the back of a career-best five for 34 by Hasan Ali and a hundred on debut by opener Imam-ul-Haq, thus winning their seventh match in a row.
Sri Lanka were bowled out for 209 in the penultimate over before Imam’s hundred saw Pakistan through in the 43rd over.
Sarfraz termed the ODI series win as a great fightback after losing the preceding two-match Test series 2-0. “It’s a matter of great happiness that we have won the series 3-0 but I hope that we will play the remaining matches with the same spirit,” said Sarfraz. “It is a good comeback after the Test series loss; we have done well in all departments.”
Pakistan won the first match by 83 runs in Dubai before clinching the second in Abu Dhabi by 32 runs.
Teams:
PAKISTAN: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed(capt&wk), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Usman Khan, Junaid Khan
SRI LANKA: Niroshan Dickwella(wk), Upal Tharanga(capt), D Chandimal, S Samarawickrama, Lahiru Thirimanne, M Siriwardana, S Prasanna, Thisara Perera, A Dananjaya, S Lakmal, L Gamage
