Following Story was posted prior to the beginning of third ODI between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at Abu Dhabi on October 18, 2017.
Sri Lanka’s woes in ODIs continues to haunt the Side which though just thrashed Pakistan in the longest format of Cricket but in 50-over game, the Islanders are on the verge of losing third consecutive ODI series against green shirts in United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Pakistan has so far remained an obvious dominant over Sri Lanka in five-match ODI series, and in both previous two matches, beaten the latter by 83 and 32 runs respectively. Therefore Sri Lanka must now find a way to break the stagnation and register its first ODI win following eight consecutive defeats.
If Sri Lanka loses another ODI battle against Pakistan in the ongoing series, it will suffer another series loss as the latter remained victorious in previous two bilateral series held in UAE in 2011 and 2013.
Unlike Sri Lanka, Pakistan’s recent ODI journey has been remarkable, and last victory at Abu Dhabi let the Side to taste 8th victory in last nine One Day Internationals (ODIs).
It is worth mentioning here that Pakistan beaten Sri Lanka in first ODI by 83 runs at Dubai and clinched another victory by 32 runs in second ODI played on October 16 at Abu Dhabi.
The 23-year-old Babar Azam scored Centuries in both ODIs, having become the first batsman in ODI history to score five consecutive Centuries in one Country. His score in last five ODI innings in UAE remained 101, 103, 117, 123 and 120.
With his 101-run innings in last ODI, Babar Azam recorded his 7th ODI Century and became the fastest batsman to hit seven ODI Centuries in just 33 innings.
Overall Babar Azam has so far played 33 ODIs and scored 1695 runs with an average of 57.20.
