Pakistan cruise past Sri Lanka

Pallekele - Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets in the opening one-day international here on Thursday to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

The tourists achieved a rain-revised target of 135 with more than seven overs to spare in the day-night match, with opener Mohammad Hafeez top-scoring with 37 and Umar Akmal making an unbeaten 36.

Lahiru Thirimanne earlier scored an unbeaten 42 for Sri Lanka, while pacemen Umar Gul and Mohammad Sami each took three wickets for Pakistan.

The second one-dayer will also be played in Pallekele on Saturday and the last three games in Colombo on June 13, 16 and 18.

Brief scores:

Sri Lanka 135-8 in 42 overs; Pakistan 135-4 in 34.1 overs