Imran Khan played a captain's knock for Pakistan with a stubborn 102 not out. He was well-supported by a relatively unknown right-hand batsman Shahid Mahboob, who scored 77, as the duo stitched a 144-run stand for the sixth wicket.
Pakistan spinner Abdul Qadir
Sri Lanka came close to registering their maiden victory over Pakistan in a World Cup game when they clashed at Leeds in 1983 but they fell short by 11 runs. Put into bat in bowler-friendly conditions, pacer Asantha de Mel's 5-39 in 12 overs helped Sri Lanka restrict Pakistan to 235 for seven in their 60 overs. De Mel had Pakistan's top order in all sorts of trouble at 30-3. Rumesh Ratnayake made further inroads by dismissing Javed Miandad (7) and Ijaz Faqih (0) as Pakistan languished at 43-5.
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Imran Khan played a captain's knock for Pakistan with a stubborn 102 not out. He was well-supported by a relatively unknown right-hand batsman Shahid Mahboob, who scored 77, as the duo stitched a 144-run stand for the sixth wicket.
The Imran-less Pakistan attack lacked bite as Sri Lanka cruised to 162-3. But the introduction of Abdul Qadir proved to be the right decision. The leg-spinner repaid his captain's faith as his 5-44 derailed Sri Lanka's chase - losing seven wickets for 37 runs. Qadir's performance overshadowed his captain's brilliant century and De Mel's fifer.
Did you know?
Kirk Edwards, Devendra Bishoo and Andre Russell made their ODI debuts for West Indies during the 2011 World Cup. Edwards, who was a replacement for Adrian Barath in the tournament, hasn't played for West Indies since 2014. While Bishoo is still in West Indies' scheme of things, Russell last donned the West Indies colours in a limited overs series against Bangladesh in 2018.
Figured out
Rahul Dravid was the highest run-getter during the 1999 World Cup, scoring 461 runs at an average of 65.85 from eight matches in the tournament. His efforts, though, were not enough as India failed to qualify for the semi-finals.
Player to watch: Joe Denly
The England all-rounder may have played his last ODI in 2009 v Australia, but his impressive domestic performances and a good outing with the England T20I team against Sri Lanka and West Indies seems to have forced the selectors to name him in the preliminary England squad for the World Cup. His performances against Pakistan and Ireland will be closely monitored before a decision is made to include him in the final team for the tournament.
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