Pakistan captain Babar Azam was over the moon after his side defeated Afghanistan by 59 runs in the third ODI in Colombo and pocketed the series 3-0. As a result of this whitewash, Pakistan also became the new no.1 ranked ODI side in ICC team rankings.
Pakistan batted first after winning the toss and posted 268/8 in 50 overs with Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan scoring half-centuries. Agha Salman and Mohammad Nawaz also contributed to the final total.
For Afghanistan, Gulbadin Naib and Fareed Ahmad picked two wickets each.
In reply, Mujeeb Ur Rahman top-scored with 64 as Afghanistan was bowled out for 209 runs and lost the match by 59 runs and the series 0-3.
The Pakistan cricket team celebrated their No.1 ranking by cutting a cake and Babar gave a strong pep talk to his team and reminded them to shift the focus towards the much-awaited Asia Cup 2023.
"We are the number one ranked ODI side. Credits go to the boys, all of them have been doing the hard yards. We have gone through ups and downs but the unity in the team remained intact. We are number one because of this bonding.
We enjoying this win. After a couple of days, Asia Cup is starting. In a couple of days, we have our first match in the Asia Cup. So need to take this momentum to it,” Babar said in a video shared by PCB.
Pakistan won the first match by 142 runs and by one wicket in the second -- both games played in Hambantota.
Now Pakistan will prepare for their first match of the Asia Cup 2023 which will be played in Multan against Nepal. They will then play India in Kandy on September 2nd.
