The Sri Lankans who opened up the competition with a grand 6 wicket win over South Africa must win this game to keep their hopes alive of figuring in the final.
Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharna once again gave them a flying start putting on 56 with the 50 coming in 70 balls. Kaluwitharna was the more aggressive and fours were flowing from his bat. He hooked and pulled and it was Younis who suffered. Kaluwitharna was first out mistiming a pull. He made 33 with 5 fours.
Jayasuriya who has lost his flair for big hitting made 30 before a delivery cut back sharply to take his glove and bowl him. He made 30 with 4 fours and a six. Jayasuriya went at 91 and disaster struck when Aravinda de Silva was bowled leg stump for 2 with the score on 94.
It was then that skipper Ranatunga joined Atapattu to perform a rescue act like they did against the South Africans adding 128 for the fourth wicket.
Atapattu who has come back to form again started where he left off in Port Elizabeth and his driving on the off was marvellous. He timed the shots well and his straight bat was nice to watch.
Ranatunga who has been in good form too once again took on the responsibility and his presence at the wicket was encouragement to Atapattu. Ranatunga who missed a well-deserved century in the previous game was unfortunate to be bowled round his legs by Akram when well set. His square driving and nudges were superbly executed and he ran some cheeky singles with Atapattu. His 50 came in 51 balls with 5 fours. He made 78 with 9 fours in 72 balls. He went at 232.
With his departure an unforgivable batting slump followed where Lanka lost four wickets - that of Wickremasinghe (0), Mahanama (1), Jayawardena (0) including Ranatunga for just 6 runs. The collapse was unacceptable.
Wickremasinghe who was sent in to quicken the scoring rate holed out to Younis off Akram, Mahanama was run out by a direct hit from Hussain at square leg and Jayawardena nicked one to keeper Latiff.
It was the combination of Akram and Younis who caused this collapse. Atapattu then played a lone hand unruffled by the situation and added 43 with the reliable Dharmasena for the eighth wicket. Dharmasena made 20 before lofting to mid wicket.
Atapattu was unlucky to miss a century bowled by Akram for 94. It was another great innings by this youngster.
Now that the batsmen have performed it up to the bowlers and fieldsmen to do their job if Sri Lanka is to win.
Rashid Latiff won the toss and put the Lankans in. Sri Lanka brought in Mahela Jayawardena for Upul Chandana and Pakistan gave ace leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed his first game in this tourney.
It was a lovely batting wicket with the ball coming on to the bat which was to the liking of the Lankan batsmen who are natural stroke players. The outfield too was lightning fast.
Once again the cricketers did not lack crowd support. The local Lankans were their with their flags fluttering and cheering vociferously led by cheer leader Lionel.
More: Sri Lanka crush Pakistan by 115 runs
Elmo Rodrigopulle reporting - Willowsome Park, Benoni, South Africa, Wednesday.
The Sri Lankan cricketers with a brilliant team effort beat the Pakistanis in their third meeting convincingly by 115 runs to throw wide open the Standard Bank one-day series here today.
After having lost the first two games to the Pakistanis not many gave the Lankans a chance. But that they fought back like the true world champions that they are, speaks volumes for their ability to come from behind and push their opponents.
On Wednesday led admirably by the irrepresible Arjuna Ranatunga, the Lankans turned in a fantastic perfromance to outplay the Pakistanis and brighten their chances of having a fling in the final at Cape Town.
If the Lankans win the next game against South Africa on Sunday and Pakistan lose to SA tomorrow, then there is no stopping the Lankans from meeting South Africa in the final. But then cricket is a funny game and anything can happen.
In an outstanding show by a rejuvenated Sri Lankan side, the players who played stellar roles were skipper Ranatunga, marvellous Marvan, dashing Kaluwitharna, blooming Vaas and that any captain's dream 'spider' Muralidaran whose vicious spin had the Pakistanis batsmen in tangles.
Before the toss which was won by Latiff who put the Lankans in, the Lankans brought in Jayawardena for Chandana and Pakistanis gave their leg spinner Mushtaq (who had arrived back) his first game.
Incidentally on this beautiful ground, great England batsman the late Dennis Compton had scored a scintillating 300 in 181 minutes in a game against North Eastern Transvaal in 1948/49.
As the game progressed it was apparent that the wicket was a batting paradise although the Pakistani pacemen Akram, Younis, Razzak and Mahmood were getting the ball to wobble about.
Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana gave their side the platform from which to build. They put on 56 and the 50 of their stand came in 70 balls. Kaluwitharana was the more aggressive and made Younis look ordinary as he pummelled him to all parts of the field. The usually belligerent Jayasuriya was content to allow Kaluwitharana bash it around.
Aftas slamming 5 powerfully hit fours Kaluwitharana went for an ambitious pull off Akram and skied a catch. He made 33. Jayasuriya went at 91 for 30 with 4 fours and a six and then disaster struck when Aravinda de Silva was bowled round his legs for 2 at 94. It was then that Atapattu and Ranatunga as they did in the earlier game against the South Africans who began another rescue act. They had a close look at the bowling and once they settled in broke out into intelligent and clever stroke play.
Ranatunga's presence at the wicket was great inspiration to young Atapattu. Always in conversation after each over, the pair began to take the Pakistani attack apart with strokes all round the wicket and the running of cheeky singles that upset the field placing.
``While Atapattu's driving on the off was a connessieur's delight, Ranatunga's square driving and nudging was excellent. They put on 128 and after Ranatunga went for 78, a collapse set in where the wickets of Wickremasinghe, Mahanama and Jayawardena were lost while the score moved from 232 to 238. After Dharmasena went at 281 for a well made 20, atapattu who was the man of the match was out for 94 when looking set for a three figure score. The innings finally folded up for 288 in 49.4 overs. Akram bowled best to have 4 for 43. When Pakistan batted there was a slight shower which delayed play by 28 minutes. Cheer leader Lionel described this shower as a 'mal vassa' and that is how it turned out to be as the result showed. The Pakistanis lost their first wicket at 11 and then what one saw was a procession of batsmen making their way to the pavilion unable to counter the pace of Vaas and the vicious spin of Muralidaran. The Pakistanis folded up for 173 in 39.2 overs and this victory was sweet revenge for the Lankans who lost the previous two games to Pakistan.
Vaas had 2 for 34 and Muralidaran who surprisingly dropped a sitter from Afridi bowled his off spinners with great bite to have 5 for 23 in 9.2 well controlled overs. It was a remarkable effort by this youngster who has carried all before him on this tour.
When we visited Ranatunga in his hotel room, he was savouring the triumph but what was of worry was that he was strapped up with ice packs on his right arm and right knee, the result of being hit by a throw and a vicious delivery.
Ranatunga said he was happy the way his team played. ``We are now getting our act together and if we play that way I see no reason why we should not beat the Proteas and play in the final.
``The boys are all wound up after their sad efforts in the earlier games and from now on we will be moving', said the skipper whose injuries will not keep him out of the next game.
Chairman of selectors and tour manager Duleep Mendis was also delighted with the result and said that the team has responed well in spite of the criticism levelled at them.
The captain and manager also praised the brilliant wicket keeping of Romesh Kaluwitharna, which went a long way in helping Sri Lanka to victory.
More..
Lanka score century of ODI victories
by SA'ADI THAWFEEQ
World champions Sri Lanka fighting hard to keep in contention in South Africa's three-nation limited-overs tournament recorded their one hundredth one-day international victory when they beat Pakistan by 115 runs in a crucial qualifying match at Benoni on Wednesday.
Having begun the tournament on a disastrous note by losing their first three matches, Sri Lanka manoeuvred magnificently by their captain Arjuna Ranatunga have recorded two successive victories over South Africa and Pakistan to come within one win from qualifying for Wednesday's final at Cape Town.
Sri Lanka's wins have opened out the tournament which at one stage looked like taking a one-way course with South Africa and Pakistan being the main contenders to make the final.
Sri Lanka and Pakistan have to play the host country in their final qualifying round engagements and both contests are going to be quite absorbing with the prospect of all three countries finishing on the same number of points and, with calculators having to come into play if the finalists are to be decided on the nett run rate. That possibility is there only if the two Asian countries can inflict defeats on South Africa.
Sri Lanka have the advantage of playing their final match after Pakistan meets South Africa at Centurion Park today. They will be able to assess what sort of target they must set themselves to qualify for the final depending on the result of today's game. Sri Lanka play South Africa at Bloemfontein on Sunday. Only a fraction of points separate the two countries on the nett run rate.
Out of Sri Lanka's century of one-day wins, the majority have been against their two Asian neighbours, Pakistan and India, mainly because they have played them often. Of the 268 matches played todate, Sri Lanka have met Pakistan 71 times and India on 52 occasions.
Sri Lanka have the highest success percentage among Test playing countries against Zimbabwe (84.61%), South Africa (45.45%) and India (44.68%). Against all the other Test-playing countries Sri Lanka's percentage success is below 40%.
Naturally, Sri Lanka enjoy a high percentage success on home soil (67.85%) winning 38 of the 65 matches played todate. The Saravanamuttu Stadium has been Sri Lanka's most successful venue contributing for 87.5% of their victories followed by De Soysa Stadium, formerly Tyronne Fernando Stadium (75%) and R. Premadasa Stadium (73.91%).
Sri Lanka's happy hunting grounds away from home in Bangladesh where they have won 75% of their matches. England where they tour next, and Australia have been their less successful grounds winning only 16.66% in each country.
Ranatunga, who led Sri Lanka to their greatest one-day triumph when they won the Wills World Cup in 1996, is undoubtedly the country's most victorious captain, showing a 51% success record. His qualities of leadership in the abbreviated game has seen Sri Lanka come within striking distance of entering the final in South Africa.