Left-arm paceman Usman Shinwari destroyed Sri Lanka with a five-wicket burst to help Pakistan achieve a convincing nine-wicket win in the fifth and final match for a 5-0 clean sweep of the series on Monday. Shinwari’s 5-34 in seven overs reduced Sri Lanka to 103 all out in 26.2 overs in Sharjah before openers Fakhar Zaman (48) and Imam-ul-Haq (45 not out) knocked off the paltry target in 20.2 overs.
This is Pakistan’s sixth whitewash in a five-match ODI series. They had blanked Zimbabwe (2002 & 2008), Bangladesh (2003 & 2008) and New Zealand in 2003 in the past. The result was never in doubt once Shinwari assisted by Hasan Ali (2-19) and Shadab Khan (2-24) had destroyed Sri Lanka who had totals of 209, 187, 208 and 173 in the series. The win is Pakistan’s ninth in a row since winning the Champions trophy while Sri Lanka plummetted to their 12th defeat in a row.
