Agha hits stunning ton as Pakistan win thriller against Lanka

Salman Agha hit a brilliant century as Pakistan clinched a thrilling six-run win over Sri Lanka in the first match of the three-game ODI series in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.

Riding on Agha's magnificent 105 not out off 87 balls, Pakistan made 299 for five in 50 overs.

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Agha was well-supported by Hussain Talat who made 63.

In reply, bowling all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga, who earlier took three wickets with his leg-spin, put up a valiant fight with the bat, scoring 59 off 52 balls despite Sri Lanka losing wickets regularly at the other end.

But Hasaranga's heroics were not enough as Pakistan restricted the Lankans to 293 for nine.

Pace bowler Haris Rauf took four wickets for the home team.

"The players played well. The way we started and the early wicket losses... credit goes to Agha and Talat. The way we started a score of 300 [299] was a big score," said Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Agha was also pleased with his man-of-the-match performance.

"I just wanted to be in the present and play on the ball's merit. That worked. The partnership with Hussain set the tone," he said.

"We were in bit of a dig so we wanted to take the game on. It was not easy to bat against the new ball but we wanted to play our shots and also take our singles and twos. The running between us was the highlight of the partnership."

Rawalpindi will host the remaining two matches of the series on November 15 and 19.

Brief scores:

Pakistan 299 for 5 (Agha 105*, Talat 62, Nawaz 36*, Hasaranga 3-54) beat Sri Lanka 293 for 9 (Hasaranga 59, Samarawickrama 39, Mishara 38, Rauf 4-61) by six runs

Rituraj Borkakoty

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rituraj@khaleejtimes.com

Rituraj Borkakoty is Sports Editor and has spent more than two decades writing on his sporting heroes. He also loves an underdog story, so if you have one, share it with him. He would love to bring it to life.