Babar stars with fifty as Pakistan score 277-7 against Sri Lanka XI

COLOMBO: Pakistan captain Babar Azam led the way for his team with a magnificent 88-run strike and bolstered Pakistan to finish 277/7 on the opening day of the ongoing warm-up match against Sri Lanka XI.

Veteran right-handed batsman Azhar Ali, who took over as captain in Babar Azam’s absence, opted to have his team bat first after the coin was flipped in his favour.

Batting first, the tour team got off to an unwelcome start to their campaign when the Green Shirts lost both of their starters Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique by just three runs.

Azhar alongside Babar then anchored the entry for Pakistan with a staggering 143-run partnership for third wicket.
The former stayed slow on his all-important 43-run slam as he faced a mammoth 119 deliveries.

Babar, on the other hand, hit a magnificent 88 at a decent pace with the help of eight limits and four sixes.

After the Azhar-Babar partnership, Pakistan again started losing wickets at a rapid rate as batsman Mohammad Rizwan and Shan Masood went down cheap for 31 and six respectively.

Middle-order left-handed batsman Saud Shakeel and Salman Ali Agha then secured a grand finish for the team by making a gutsy 71 runs.

Saud remained undefeated with 30 while Agha had 43 no-outs.

For the Sri Lanka Cricket XI, Lakshitha Manasinghe claimed three wickets while Lasith Embuldeniya bagged two.

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