Sania Mirza Watches Pakistan Clinch Thriller Against Sri Lanka in Colombo T20I
Sania Mirza watched Pakistan win a thrilling T20 International against Sri Lanka but her husband Shoaib Malik flopped with the bat, managing eight off 12 balls in a stiff chase.
A special guest at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium at Colombo kept a close watch as Pakistan stole a thrilling one-wicket win against Sri Lanka to take the T20 International series 2-0. Sania Mirza was glued to her seat but on a day when the Indian tennis queen got nominated for India's highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.
The former Pakistan captain, who is a key limited overs cricketer for the team, returned with figures of 2/16 from his three overs against a belligerent Sri Lankan batting line up but managed only 8 off 12 balls, failing in a stiff chase of 173 runs, before blistering knocks by skipper Shahid Afridi (45) and Anwar Ali (46) helped the tourists complete an incredible treble, having earlier won the Test series 2-1 and the ODIs 3-2.
Sania, who recently won her first Wimbledon title - the women's doubles with Swiss legend Martina Hingis, gasped in disappointment as Malik was foxed by left-arm spinner Milinda Siriwardana, allowing Kusal Perera to complete a regulation stumping. Pakistan were then tottering at 40/5 in 7.2 overs and victory was a distant dream. Malik was brilliant in the first T20I and smashed an unbeaten 46 to fashion Pakistan's 29-run win.
Sania, a busy tennis player and Malik, a professional cricketer, hardly meet because of their hectic schedules. While the lady travels the world winning Grand Slams and other key tennis tournaments, the husband has fought hard to regain his place in the Pakistani team. Consequently, the Indian ace has not often been seen in Pakistan's matches. This had created rumours of a rift between the star couple but Sania has always rubbished these reports. (Afridi Proud of Excellent Teammates)
But it was a pleasant sight for the couple's fans on Saturday as Sania sat right through the match - she must have been relieved to see Pakistan steal a victory from the jaws of defeat despite her husband's failure with the bat.
Malik, 33, has 5829 runs from 224 ODIs and 1027 runs from 63 T20Is. Sania has had a great year, becoming world number one before winning her maiden women's doubles Grand Slam title at Wimbledon last month.