Pak blind team hand SL 3rd successive defeat

LAHORE: Ton up Rashid and Riasat handed Sri Lanka the 3rd defeat in as many ODI matches and thus Pakistan completed clean sweep in the ODI series.

The 3rd and final One-day International of Pakistan and Sri Lanka Blind Cricket series was played on Monday at Bloomfield Cricket Ground Colombo and team green won the match by 106 runs. This time, the coin favors the Islanders and they decided to bowl first. Their decision proved productive in the 1st over of the innings when Matiullah, who was playing his first game in this series was caught out without scoring a run.

Mohsin Khan and Badar Munir also returned to dugout without much scoring. They scored 18 and 29 runs respectively. Pakistan was soaring at 84 for the loss of 3 wickets in 8 overs and Sri Lanka had the upper hand. But the 119 runs stand between Riasat Khan and M Rashid for the 4th wicket, turned the table around. Riasat Khan got out after scoring 100 runs off 69 balls.

Wickets kept tumbling around Rashid but he kept playing his incredible knock. Assault in last few overs mounted Pakistan total to 448 runs in 40 overs for the loss of 7 wickets. M Rashid remained unbeaten on 179 runs off 100 balls, he smashed 27 fours in his innings. Total runs of 448 also contain 22 runs penalty to Sri Lankan team for bowling 3 overs after stipulated time. Suranga Sampath took 2 wickets for 51 runs and Upul Sanjeva also claimed 2 wickets for 68 runs. Target of 449 runs apparently seemed insurmountable, and it proved as well, the pressure of chasing huge Total took the better off the Sri Lankan batsmen. They tried their best to keep the required run rate regimented but couldn’t thrived against the potent bowling attack and strong fielding of Green Shirts. Sri Lanka made 342 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in allotted 40 overs. Dimithu Sandrawan scored 107 runs off 83 balls and Ajit Silva scored 58 runs. Matiullh, Mohsin Khan and Fakhar Abbass claimed 2 wickets each. M Rashid was named the man of the match while Man of the ODI Series were Pakistani players who won all the awards with their outstanding performances: Riasat Khan in B1 Category, Badar Munir in B2 Category, M Rashid in B3 Category. Manusha Nanayakkara, Member of National Parliament Sri Lanka, Syed Sultan Shah, Chairman Pakistan Blind Cricket Council and the Former President World Blind Cricket Ltd, Syed Salman Bokhari, Senior Vice President World Blind Cricket Ltd and Chaminda Pushpakumara 2nd Vice President World Blind Cricket Ltd were the guests of the occasion and gave away prizes.