Pakistan overpower SL comprehensively

Hafeez finishes with 113, taking his side to an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the series.

ABU DHABI:

Mohammad Hafeez notched his third century of the series while Saeed Ajmal grabbed four wickets to help Pakistan comprehensively beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the fourth one-day international on Wednesday.

Hafeez finished with 113 not out for his ninth one-day hundred as Pakistan knocked off their modest 226-run target in the 42nd over to take an unbeatable 3-1 lead ahead of Friday’s fifth and final match.

Pakistan had restricted Sri Lanka to 225 all out in 48.5 overs with Ajmal (4-39) and pace-man Umar Gul (3-37) sharing the spoils.

Hafeez, who also hit hundreds in Pakistan’s two wins in the first and third matches in Sharjah, pushed Tillakaratne Dilshan for his 12th boundary to complete three figures, raising his bat and blowing a kiss to his wife in the stands. He became the sixth batsman in all one-day cricket to hit three tons in one bilateral series.

In all Hafeez hit two sixes and 12 boundaries off 119 balls, while Sohaib Maqsood finished with a 56-ball 46 not out with a six and four boundaries. Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad (44) put Pakistan on track during a solid 84-run stand after opener Sharjeel Khan was dismissed for 13.

Shehzad, who hit a career best 124 in Pakistan’s two-wicket loss in the second match in Dubai, started off well with three boundaries in Nuwan Kulasekara’s third over while Hafeez matched his partner with as many boundaries in Suranga Lakmal’s seventh. The stand set up victory and even after Shehzad’s dismissal, caught in the slips off Lakmal, Pakistan wiped off the target with consummate ease.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 26^th, 2013.