ICC World Cup 2023: Mohammed Rizwan dedicates sensational ton to Palestine attack victims

Star Pakistan wicketkeeper batter Mohammed Rizwan on Wednesday dedicated his teams recordbreaking performance against Sri Lanka in ICC World Cup 2023 to brothers and sisters in GazaRizwan 131 had conjured an unbeaten century while young Abdullah Shafique 113 smashed his maiden ODI century to lead Pakistan to a worldrecord chase 345 against Sri Lanka on Tuesday in HyderabadRizwan shared a matchwinning 176run stand for the third wicket with Shafique as Pakistan romped home in 482 overs This was the highest successful runchase in the history of the World CupIreland had previously held the record for the highest run chase in ODI World Cups when they successfully chased down 329 versus England during the 2011 World Cup in IndiaThis was for our brothers and sisters in Gaza Happy to contribute in the win Credits to the whole team and especially Abdullah Shafique and Hassan Ali for making it easier Extremely grateful to the people of Hyderabad for the amazing hospitality and support throughout Rizwan posted on XHamas militants launched a surprise weekend attack on Israel that killed more than 900 people triggering strong offensive from Jerusalem which has declared war against the attackersRizwan on Tuesday battled severe cramps to smash an unbeaten century while young Abdullah Shafique hit a maiden ton as Pakistan scripted a worldrecord chase to edge out Sri Lanka by six wickets in a highscoring ODI to continue their winning run in the tournamentRizwan paced his innings superbly as he shared a matchwinning 176run stand for the third wicket with the 23yearold Shafique 113 to first resurrect their chase of a stiff 345 and then added another 95 runs with Saud Shakeel 31 as Pakistan romped home in 482 oversThis was the highest successful runchase in the history of the World Cup as Pakistan extended their winning streak against Sri Lanka in World Cups to an overwhelming 80Ireland had previously held the record for the highest run chase in ODI World Cups when they successfully chased down 329 versus England during the 2011 World Cup in IndiaOpting to bat Sri Lanka dished out a dominating batting performance to post a challenging 344 for nine built around the superlative hundreds by Kusal Mendis 122 and Sadeera Samarawickrama 108Also Read Is Indias demolition of Australia a sign of things to comeSri Lanka then left Pakistan reeling at 37 for 2 in 72 overs with Dilshan Madushanka claiming both the wickets While a pull shot became ImamulHaqs undoing skipper Babar failed again after trying to play one down the legsideHowever Shafique playing only his fifth ODI showed great maturity as he and Rizwan steadied the ship bringing up the teams 100 in the 19th overShafique who replaced Fakhar Zaman and Rizwan looked for damage control initially but slowly picked up pace with the former scoring his fifty off 58 ballsSoon the 100run stand between the two was up as Pakistan reached 138 for 2 at the halfway mark with Sri Lanka desperately looking for a breakthroughWhile Shafique deposited two sixes over midwicket and one straight down the ground Rizwan too produced an insideout drive off Wellalage for four and another cut shot behind point to score his fifty off 58 ballsOnce Shafique picked up his maiden ODI ton in the 32nd over Rizwan smashed two sixes in two balls off Madhushanka to help Pakistan cross the 200mark and put it in a position of strengthWith inputs from agencies