{"id":258012,"date":"2025-11-12T03:56:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T03:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/258012\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T03:56:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T03:56:09","slug":"deadly-suicide-attack-near-rawalpindi-but-pakistan-hold-nerves-to-beat-sri-lanka-in-thriller-cricket-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/258012\/","title":{"rendered":"Deadly suicide attack near Rawalpindi, but Pakistan hold nerves to beat Sri Lanka in thriller | Cricket News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/salman-agha-1211-pti.jpg\" alt=\"Deadly suicide attack near Rawalpindi, but Pakistan hold nerves to beat Sri Lanka in thriller\" title=\"Salman Agha\u2019s fluent 105 not out off 87 balls powered Pakistan to 299\/5, before Haris Rauf\u2019s 4\/61 helped restrict Sri Lanka to 293\/9 in a tense finish. (PTI Photo) \" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>Salman Agha\u2019s fluent 105 not out off 87 balls powered Pakistan to 299\/5, before Haris Rauf\u2019s 4\/61 helped restrict Sri Lanka to 293\/9 in a tense finish. (PTI Photo)  NEW DELHI: Pakistan rode on a fighting unbeaten century from Salman Agha and a four-wicket burst by Haris Rauf to clinch a six-run win over Sri Lanka in the opening ODI on Tuesday, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.Agha\u2019s fluent 105 not out off 87 balls powered Pakistan to 299\/5, before Rauf\u2019s 4\/61 helped restrict Sri Lanka to 293\/9 in a tense finish.<\/p>\n<p>Afghanistan cricketer on air strike by Pakistan, constant support from India<\/p>\n<p>The match was played under tight security after a suicide attack earlier in the day in nearby Islamabad, which claimed at least 12 lives. The Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed that security around the Sri Lankan team was further strengthened following the incident.Put in to bat, Pakistan were struggling at 95\/4 before Agha and Hussain Talat (62) staged a brilliant recovery with a 138-run fifth-wicket partnership. Talat\u2019s maiden ODI fifty featured one six and six fours, while Agha\u2019s knock included nine boundaries, steering the hosts to a strong finish alongside Mohammad Nawaz (36 off 23)* \u2014 the duo adding 104 runs in the last 10 overs.Earlier, Wanindu Hasaranga (3\/54) had rattled Pakistan\u2019s top order, removing Fakhar Zaman (32), <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/babar-azam\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Babar Azam<\/a> (29) and Mohammad Rizwan (5) in a fiery spell. Asitha Fernando struck early, trapping Saim Ayub for six.In reply, Sri Lanka made a solid start through Kamil Mishara (38) and Pathum Nissanka (29), who shared an 85-run opening stand. But Rauf turned the game with a decisive spell, dismissing both openers and Kusal Mendis (0) in quick succession.Sadeera Samarawickrama (39) and Charith Asalanka (32) revived the chase briefly, but Rauf\u2019s fourth wicket \u2014 Samarawickrama, brilliantly caught by Babar Azam at slip \u2014 tilted momentum back to Pakistan.Down to 210\/7, Sri Lanka\u2019s hopes rested on Hasaranga, who fought valiantly with a 52-ball 59 featuring seven fours. His late charge brought the target down to 21 off eight balls before he holed out, ending the visitors\u2019 resistance. Janith Liyanage contributed 28 with two sixes and as many fours.Pakistan skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi hailed his side\u2019s fightback:\u201cAgha and Talat batted really well to take us to 299. A target of 300 was good, and Haris gave us crucial breakthroughs,\u201d said Shaheen.Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka admitted his bowlers leaked runs at key moments:\u201cThe way Agha and Talat batted took the game away. We gave away too many runs \u2014 it should have been under 270,\u201d he said.The remaining ODIs will also be played in Rawalpindi, on Thursday and Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Salman Agha\u2019s fluent 105 not out off 87 balls powered Pakistan to 299\/5, before Haris Rauf\u2019s 4\/61 helped&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[29233,1721,63713,106962,20453,31955,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-258012","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-babar-azam","9":"tag-cricket","10":"tag-haris-rauf","11":"tag-pak-vs-sl","12":"tag-pakistan-cricket","13":"tag-salman-agha","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}