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Aqib, Akhtar dazzle in Pakistan's win

Dhaka, Feb 25: Unbeaten 64 runs in 110 balls by Akhtar Sarfaraz guided finalist Pakistan A to a one-wicket win over Sri Lanka A in the 3rd SAARC cricket tournament in a low-scoring match domi- nated by bowlers at the Dha ka Stadium today (Tuesday).

The day's result left Sri Lanka to rely on the last round robin league ma tch between India A and host Bangladesh for their maid- en final berth.

Sri Lanka has three points from three matches while India earned one poin t from two matches.

To confirm a place in the final, holders India must beat host Bangladesh by 70 runs or chase the home side total at an average of over four runs per over.

The day's Man-of-the-Match Sarfaraz came to the crease when Pakistanis we re reeling at 23 for four wickets while chasing a poor 130 runs made earlier by Sri Lanka.

Sarfaraz was dropped from opener to the lower-order in the match that als o saw the absence of two key bowlers Mohammad Zahid and Kabeer Khan, and batsman Basit Ali. All three were given a rest day.

Just after coming to the crease, Sarfaraz had to watch the fall of skippe r Asif Mujtaba (12) in the next over by B.s Ranjit who along with Mario Villavarayan shared two wickets each of the five which fell with Pakistan remaining at the same 23 runs.

Pakistan had started to chase with a gloomy note when non strik- ing opener Saleem Elahi (0) was run out in the very first over going for a short sin gle with the scoreboard showing nought.

Sarfaraz, who completed a well-deserved half century with nine fours in 8 3 balls, shared a valuable 45 runs in next 10 overs with wicketkeeper Wasee m Yousafi (13) for the 6th wicket. This not only halted the slide, but also raised a hope in their tent.

Ranjit got rid of Yousafi in the last ball of the 20th over with Pakistan on 86 while all-rounder Mohammad Hossain (7) was out four overs later with t he addition of 18 runs.

The underdogs Sri Lanka, managed to grab another two wickets of Azhar Mehmood (8) and Arshad Khan (0) with the total on 117 runs, but the last laugh was by Sarfaraz who made his last boundary to reach the target, mak ing 133 in 39.3 overs with last man Aqib Javed (not out 2).

Right-arm pacer B Ranjith finished with 10-3-27-3, Mario Villavarayan claimed two for 32 runs while Liyange, M. Jawardena and spinner U Chandan a took one apiece for Sri Lanka who suf- fered the first defeat in the meet despite their brave fight.

Earlier, sent in to bat first, Sri Lanka A were bundled out for 130 runs with skipper Ruwan Kalpage scoring the team highest 54 in 69 balls with three hits to the fence and a sixer off Arshad Khan over square-leg.

Kalpage joined the other notable contributor H. Wikramaratne (28 in 49 balls) when Lankans were in dire straits, losing five wick- ets for 35 runs.

Opening bowler Aqib Javed, who claimed one wicket each in his earlier two matches, pulverised the Sri Lankan batting capturing four wickets that included three to order batsmen - opener R Peiris (3), Naveed Nawaz (6) a nd Waruna Waraguda (0).

Aqib's partner paceman Azhar Mehmood sent back the other opener M. Jayawardena (4) in the 8th over while Mujahid Jamshed earned his only success in wicket keeper P. Dessanayeka (4) in the 14th over to reduce th e islanders to 35 for 5 wickets.

Kalpage, who made his 50 in 63 balls, added 59 runs for the sixth wicket before Wikramaratne was caught by Mujahid off Arshad Khan in the 26th ove r. He later made two fours and a sixer off his conqueror over the mid wicket.

Aqib Javed put an end to Kalpage's resistance when Mujahid caught the Sri Lankan skipper at long-off to finish with 8-1-1-11-4. Ar- shad Khan and Mohammad Hussain grabbed two wickets each while Azhar Mehmood and Mujahid Jamshed took one each.