9.55pm So, Sri Lanka throw the first punch in the T20I series and consign Pakistan to a 64-run defeat. Gunathilaka laid down the marker with a blazing fifty, before Sri Lanka wobbled in the middle overs, and then landed some late blows to reach 165 for 5. Pakistan then unravelled quickly in the face of a challenging chase. Their reply was so muddled that at one point Ifthikhar and Sarfaraz were dashing towards the same end. Dew set in later in the evening, but Sri Lanka had enough runs in the bank. Pradeep and Udana came away with three wickets each while Hasaranga picked up two. The victory is Sri Lanka's first of the tour and they lead this three-match series 1-0
Has the CPL become too predictable? Yours truly joins Srinath and Gaurav to chat on the goings-on in the Caribbean, why Trinbago and Guyana (captained by Shoaib Malik this season) keep dominating every year, and whom IPL franchises might be looking at
Danushka Gunathilaka, Man of the Match: It was a great win for the unit, and we did well in the one-dayers as well. Avishka batted well and it helped me a lot. When we go forward, we can win more games.
Dasun Shanaka, SL captain: It's a great achievement for us without our top guns. Our openers were tremendous on this wicket. We had great belief in this team. All the credit need to go to the openers and debutant Banuka. The bowlers also started well.
That's a wrap of this game. Thanks for tuning in. This is Deivarayan Muthu signing off on the behalf of Andrew Miller and Chandan Duorah. Goodbye and good night
ShivaRam : "Wow.. This has to be one of the worst t20 chases ever. Surely, Pakistan are a better batting side than this. "
Ali: "I don't know what selecters and coaches see in Shahzad and Umar what fans don't see. They are not international material they can perform good in local let them stay there."
Khawaja: "Dropping Fakhar cost them initial start. Dropping Haris cost them momentum. Dropping Shinwari cost them early break throughs. Picking tried and tested players (Ahmed, Akmal) cost them match.
Mohammad Amir c Gunathilaka b Udana 1 (2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50.00
Shadab Khan c Fernando b Udana 6 (7b 1x4 0x6) SR: 85.71
Tasmeem: "Lol, T20 rankings. Should they lose two series on the trott, they will be back being 5th or 6th."
Ranodeep Dutta: "Why drop Fakhar Zaman? He was in really good form in odis scoring 2 50s in 2 innings. Just when he was getting confidence the team management decides to drop him. Poor selection"
END OF OVER:17 | 10 Runs 1 Wkt | PAK: 100/8 (66 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 5.88, RRR: 22.00)
- Shadab Khan6 (5b)
- Mohammad Amir0 (0b)
- Nuwan Pradeep3-0-21-3
- Wanindu Hasaranga4-0-20-2
Aabis: "Whatever's happening now is because of the nonsense partnership of dots between Sarfaraz and Iftikhar. Sarfaraz should simply understand and accept that he does not have the calibre to play in the white ball cricket. He should stick with the red ball and let someone deserving to represent Pakistan in the shorter formats. He might be a good captain but he's also occupying an important slot in the batting order."
Faheem Ashraf c Gunathilaka b Pradeep 8 (8b 1x4 0x6) SR: 100.00
Ranodeep Dutta: "Rizwan should be Pakistan's keeper for Odis and tests and Sarfaraz should be pakistans keeper in t20s only"