[WATCH] Wanindu Hasaranga dismisses Babar Azam for 29 during PAK vs SL 1st ODI

Babar Azam, the former captain of the Pakistan side, came into the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka at home under pressure, having not been able to put up a huge score on the board during their previous series against South Africa. The last century in the 50-over format for Azam came against Nepal during the Asia Cup 2023.

Going into the Sri Lanka series, the expectation was huge from the right-handed and experienced campaigner of Pakistan, who needed to put a huge score on the board. He arrived on the second ball of the fifth over of the first innings after the dismissal of Saim Ayub on six runs. The first few overs were tricky for the right-handed batter, but he opened the account on the 13th delivery.

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His first boundary of the game came during the 17th over, when he presented the full face of the bat to Janith Liyange. But Pakistan kept losing wickets from the other end as they saw the back of Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Rizwan, which created incredible pressure on Babar.

Watch: Wanindu Hasaranga bowls out Babar Azam for 29 during PAK vs SL Rawalpindi ODI

On the second ball of the 24th over, Wanindu Hasaranga dismissed Babar for 24 runs with the help of three boundaries. It was a beautiful delivery from the mystery spinner as the ball landed outside off and drew the batter forward before spinning viciously to beat the inside edge and break the stumps for 29 runs.

Pakistan found themselves under incredible pressure with the wicket at 95/4 in 24 overs. It was the third wicket of the game for Hasaranga, who had some brutal figures of 3/26 in six overs at an economy rate of 4.3.

Babar has overall smashed 6365 runs in 135 innings at an average of nearly 53 and a strike rate of nearly 90 with the help of 19 centuries and 37 half-centuries at the best score of 158 runs. In the South Africa series, the right-handed batter smashed seven, 11, and 27 across three fixtures at an average of 15.