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South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 87 runs in Friday’s other game
Last Updated: 24/05/19 7:08pm
Pakistan’s woeful one-day form heading into the World Cup continued as they suffered a three-wicket loss to Afghanistan in a warm-up game in Bristol.
Pakistan vs Afghanistan scorecard
After electing to bat first, Pakistan – fresh from a 4-0 ODI series defeat to England that extended their winless run to 11 (10 losses, one no result) – looked in trouble early on at 65-3, after a double strike in the 12th over by Mohammad Nabi (3-46).
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Babar Azam (112) rescued the innings with a fine century – putting on 103 for the fifth wicket with Shoaib Malik (44) – but, once he fell in the 46th over, Pakistan collapsed to 262 all out, losing their final four wickets within two overs.
Hazratullah Zazai got Afghanistan’s run-chase off to a blistering start, blasting 49 from 28 balls, and when he did eventually fall, Hashmatullah Shahidi struck a classy 74 not out to steer the side to victory.
Nabi added to his fine afternoon, scoring 34 with the bat, and though his wicket brought a brief later wobble – three wickets falling for five runs – Shahidi and Rashid Khan knocked off the four required from the final over.
Wahab Riaz celebrated his World Cup recall after two years in the ODI wilderness with 3-46, but the rest of the Pakistan bowling attack toiled, particularly 19-year-old left-armer Shaheen Afridi, whose six wicketless overs cost 51 runs.
Things were far more straight-forward for South Africa in their warm-up game against Sri Lanka, as they eased to an 87-run win in Cardiff.
Sri Lanka vs South Africa scorecard
Put into bat first, South Africa posted 338-7 from their 50 overs, the highlight of which was a 128-run stand for the second wicket between Hashim Amla (65) and captain Faf du Plessis (88).
In reply, Sri Lanka lost Kusal Perera second ball, but their skipper too stepped up, with Dimuth Karunaratne hitting 87 – his 98-run fourth-wicket partnership with Angelo Mathews (64) will have had Sri Lanka supporters briefly hopeful of forcing an upset.
But, once Karunaratne fell in the 30th over, Andile Phehlukwayo (4-36) ran through the lower order as Sri Lanka lost their last six wickets for 52 runs – bundled out for 251 in 42.3 overs.
You can watch every match of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup on Sky Sports Cricket, starting with England vs South Africa at The Oval on Thursday, May 30.
