DAMBULLA - M Hafeez helped Pakistan take a 1-0 lead in the five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka and the all-rounder, who was pleased with his performance, mentioned that he was only concentrating on the game, putting aside concerns with his bowling action. Hafeez, who was reported for a faulty action in the preceding Test series against Sri Lanka and had to undergo testing in Chennai, picked up a career-best four for 41 before scoring a 95-ball 103 to help Pakistan win the opening ODI by six wickets with 4.4 overs to spare.
Hafeez, who became only the second Pakistan player after Shoaib Malik to pick up four or more wickets and score a century in an ODI, said doing well for Pakistan was the only thing on his mind. Speaking after the game, Hafeez, who was named the Man of the Match, said: "I have to put all the issues aside and do what the job demands. It was a wonderful win for the team. It's always great to see Pakistan win, doesn't matter if you're playing or not. We wanted a good start to the series."
Hafeez praised the bowlers for coming up with a fine performance to restrict Sri Lanka and said he was confident expressing himself well during the game. "The bowlers did a great job to restrict them to less than 260 and then we played aggressively to chase it down. It's all about going out there and expressing yourself. I went out there and backed myself, it came off as well."
Pakistan Skipper Azhar Ali termed the win as a great team performance and showered Hafeez with praise for his all-round show by calling him a champion player. "It was a great team performance. Everyone played their part, especially Hafeez, who played like a champion today. Restricting Sri Lanka to 255 was a great thing for us. We kept them tied up in the last 10 overs as well. The bowlers bowled disciplined line and lengths throughout."
Ali, who was also pleased with his team's batting, warned Pakistan against getting complacent. "The batsmen too did really well to chase it (the target) down. The bowlers need to be aggressive and go for wickets. Yasir (Shah) is bowling really well and he gives us another wicket-taking option. We shouldn't get complacent as Sri Lanka may come back hard at us. We need to continue performing like we did today."
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews did not find the performance of both the batsmen and the bowlers of his side satisfactory, mentioning that there were scrappy and did not show enough discipline. The home-team captain also said the wicket had a spongy bounce to it, along with some turn, which Pakistan capitalised on.
"I thought our score was below par. It was a little spongy earlier on (taking about the bounce), the ball was turning and sticking. We just didn't get enough runs on the board. We also didn't pick wickets at crucial junctures and couldn't put pressure on them. We were a little bit scrappy, but we have four more games, we will look to do well in them. We have a couple of days off. We need to take rest and prepare ourselves mentally. The rules and regulations keep changing, that makes it harder, but you have to adjust accordingly," Mathews said.