Iftikhar, Butt help Pak tame Lanka

Opener Salman Butt hit a sparkling century and paceman Rao Iftikhar returned career-best bowling figures as Pakistan crushed Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the first day-night international in Karachi.

Updated on: Jan 21, 2009, 12:36:47 IST

AFP | By HT Correspondent, Karachi

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

Opener Salman Butt hit a sparkling century and paceman Rao Iftikhar returned career-best bowling figures as Pakistan crushed Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the first day-night international in Karachi on Tuesday.

The left-handed Butt scored a 117-ball 100 and put on a solid 168-run opening stand with Khurram Manzoor (83) as the home team chased down a modest target of 220 with 4.1 overs to spare.

The win gave Pakistan a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Sri Lanka, bowled out for 219 in 45.2 overs, failed to put up a solid resistance and their celebrated spinners Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis were rendered ineffective by Pakistan’s aggressive approach. Mendis, failed to live up to the billing, finishing with 0-41.

The 24-year-old Butt, who reached his eighth one-day hundred with a single, hit 13 boundaries in his 117-ball knock.

Get the Cricket Live Score! including IPL Matches and track ICC rankings shifts, Cricket Schedule, and Players Stats along with detailed score profiles of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill.