Sharjah (October 23, 2017): Pakistan’s bowlers have given stunning performance in the fifth and final ODI against Sri Lanka today.
The men in green put forward a bowling clinic, dismissing the Sri Lanka batting for 103. Paceman Usman Shinwari finished with 5-34 while Thisara Perera top-scored with 25.
Hasan Ali and Shahdab Khan once again performed well picking up two wickets each.Coach Mickey Arthur made no secret of his intention of inflicting a clean sweep on Sri Lanka when the teams meet today. Since their ICC Champions Trophy 2017 triumph in June, Pakistan have won eight straight games and have been unstoppable in limited overs, having overcome the disappointment of losing the preceding Test series to Sri Lanka 2-0 to open up a 4-0 lead in this series.
Arthur believes his team has shown the hunger to keep winning. “I will be disappointed if we didn’t make it 5-0,” he said ahead of the match. “The guys are hungry and they definitely want to do that. The key for us is to maintain our hunger and ruthlessness so we need to keep that momentum and put this series to bed.”Pakistan have previously achieved five clean sweeps, all in series involving five games. They blanked Zimbabwe in 2002-03, Bangladesh in 2003, New Zealand in 2003-04 and Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in the 2008 season.
Rumman Raees is out of the last match as well as the T20 series, Arthur said. The left-arm quick has injured his left elbow, Haris didn’t pass a fitness test in Abu Dhabi after he was pretty close to playing, Babar Azam has pulled a groin, the coach added.The ODIs will be followed by a three-match T20 series with the last of those games to be played in Lahore on October 29.
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