Javeria Khan century gives Pakistan opening win against Sri Lanka

Thursday, 22 March 2018 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Pakistan strode to a 69-run win over Sri Lanka in the first of a three-match ODI series as Javeria Khan scored her second one-day international century on Tuesday.

Khan guided her side to 250/6 in 50 overs. The spinners then struck at regular intervals as the Sri Lankan reply was clipped at 181 in 45.2 overs.

The middle-order batsmen finished unbeaten on 113 in 142 balls, with 15 fours.

Natalia Pervaiz made an ODI debut, contributing an unbeaten 21 in 20 balls, including the innings’ only six, straight down the ground.

With their openers sent back early in the reply, Sri Lanka might have hoped their No.3 too would make a dent on the scoreline and Chamari Athapaththu, having taken her time to settle in, was in terrific touch.

However, Pakistan did not allow the new batters to settle in. Shashikala Siriwardene (44 in 46 balls) attempted to rally the tail but with half the Sri Lankan line-up back even before the 100 came up, her valiant effort could only prolong the innings. Maroof had three wickets, while Sandhu, who finished with economical figures of 10-3-19-1, also chipped in with a runout.