Left-arm paceman Usman Shinwari
destroyed Sri Lanka with a five-wicket burst to help Pakistan achieve a
convincing nine-wicket win in the fifth and final match for a 5-0 clean
sweep of the series yesterday. Shinwari’s 5-34 in seven overs reduced
Sri Lanka to 103 all out in 26.2 overs in Sharjah before openers
Fakhar Zaman (48) and Imam-ul-Haq (45 not out) knocked off the paltry target in 20.2 overs.
This
is Pakistan’s sixth whitewash in a five-match ODI series. They had
blanked Zimbabwe (2002 and 2008), Bangladesh (2003 and 2008) and New
Zealand in 2003 in the past.
The result was never in doubt once
Shinwari assisted by Hasan Ali (2-19) and Shadab Khan (2-24) had
destroyed Sri Lanka who had totals of 209, 187, 208 and 173 in the
series. The win is Pakistan’s ninth in a row since winning the Champions
trophy in June this year while Sri Lanka plummeted to their 12th defeat
in a row, also losing 5-0 each to South Africa and India this year.
Zaman
hit seven boundaries in his 47-ball knock before he fell with just 20
needed. Imam hit the winning boundary, finishing his 64-ball knock with
four boundaries and a six.
But it was Pakistan’s new find Shinwari
who rocked the Sri Lankans. The 23-year-old finished with 5-34 as Sri
Lanka, who won the toss and batted on an easy paced Sharjah stadium
pitch, never recovered from early jolts of losing four wickets in the
first three overs.
Shinwari termed it his best bowling in the entire
career. “Yes, you can say this is my best performance,” said Shinwari,
declared man of the match. “Our bowling coach (Azhar Mahmood) always
tells us to attack from the first ball and I did that and got wickets.”
Sri
Lankan skipper Upul Tharanga was disappointed over the loss. “For the
last 15-18 months we are losing because of poor batting,” said Tharanga,
referring to Sri Lanka’s defeats which also included their first-ever
loss to minnows Zimbabwe at home.
Only Thisara Perera (25), Lahiru
Thirimanne (19), Seekuge Prasanna (16) and Dushmantha Chameera (11)
reached double figures in an abysmal batting performance by Sri Lanka,
their second lowest total in an ODI against Pakistan. Their lowest total
of 78 against Pakistan had also come at Sharjah in 2002.
Shinwari,
who debuted in the fourth one-day of this series, bowled Sadeera
Samarawickrama with the fifth ball of the match for nought and then had
Dinesh Chandimal next ball, caught behind without scoring.
In his
next over Shinwari had Tharanga bowled off a nippy delivery for eight
and then trapped Niroshan Dickwella leg before with the fifth to leave
Sri Lanka tottering at 8-4. Shinwari completed his maiden five-wicket
haul when he had Milinda Siriwardana (six) caught by Fakhar Zaman, his
wickets coming off just 21 balls — third fastest to five wickets in an
ODI.
Perera hit three boundaries and a six before he became one of
two wickets by leg-spinner Shadab Khan in one over. Hasan Ali also took
2-19, 14 wickets in the series. The two teams now play a three-match
Twenty20 international series, the first two in Abu Dhabi on October 26
and 27 while the last in Lahore on October 29.
Pakistan’s fast bowler Usman Khan Shinwari bowls during the fifth one day international against Sri Lanka in Sharjah yesterday. (AFP)