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ISLAMABAD: Batsman Javeria Khan struck her second ODI century to help Pakistan go 1-0 up in their three-match series, part of the ICC Women’s Championship, against Sri Lanka in Dambulla on Tuesday. Javeria helped Pakistan recover from the early loss of the openers, and then rallied with the middle order to haul them to 250 for 6. In reply, Sri Lanka crumbled to 181 all out, with Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof ripping through the middle order with three wickets in five overs. Maroof had also partnered Javeria in a third-wicket stand of 49 that stabilised Pakistan after they had slipped to 19 for 2. Then, Nida Dar (34), Sana Mir (27) and Natalia Pervaiz (21 not out) played handy cameos to lift Pakistan to a decent score. Shashikala Siriwardene, the offspinning allrounder, was Sri Lanka’s most successful bowler with 2 for 40 in 10 overs. Siriwardene was also handy with the bat, one of only two noteworthy Sri Lankan performances in the chase. Chamari Atapattu was the other, dominating the scoring early with a 57-ball 46. Siriwardene struck a fighting 44 lower down, before becoming the last batsman dismissed. Six of the seven bowlers used by Pakistan picked up at least a wicket each. While Maroof led the column with three, Sana Mir took two wickets, and Diana Baig, Pervaiz, Nashra Sandhu and Nida Dar took one each.
Brief scores: Pakistan 250 for 6 (Javeria Khan 113 not out, Shashikala Siriwardene 2-40) beat Sri Lanka 181 (Chamari Atapattu 46, Shashikala Siriwardene 44, Bismah Maroof 3-17) by 69 runs.
