Sri Lanka v Pakistan at Colombo: CricInfo Report

Sri Lanka v Pakistan at Colombo
14-18 Jun 2000 (Col (Retd) Rafi Nasim)

Day1 | Day2 | Day3 | Day4

Day1: Sri Lanka lose quick wickets after a good start

On account of rain that engulfed Colombo and its surroundings, the match could only start at 3 p.m. local time. Marvan Atapattu and skipper Sanath Jayasuriya opened against the bowling of one times great pair of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. Playing with immense confidence the two batsmen carried the score to 50 in 15 overs. Though trying to play a long innings Jayasuriya was out in the 17th over after scoring 26 useful runs. A little later Waqar Younis met with his second success when he clean bowled Russell Arnold, pushing down Sri Lanka to 56 for 2.

Aravinda De Silva, a star batsman with 8 test centuries against Pakistan came in and brought some life to the game by playing some exciting strokes. He along with Atapattu brought stability to Sri Lanka's innings hoisting 100 of the innings in 34 overs. Atapattu (46) and De Silva (21) kept building up the innings with confidence.

Unexpectedly De Silva became rash. In an effort to sweep one from off spinner Arshad Khan, he mishit the ball high in the air and was caught brilliantly by Wasim Akram. Sri Lanka thus lost the precious wicket of De Silva at 109, after he played an enterprising innings of 30. Sri Lanka was 115 for 3 when the game ended. Atapattu was holding the crease with a prolific 50.

With 2 excellent wickets clinched today, Waqar Younis is only one wicket short of his 300-test wickets mark.

Day2: The match seems evenly poised

Sri Lanka resumed the innings with the overnight score of 115 for 3. While Atapattu was well dug in, Jayawardene was new at the crease. Playing with immense confidence they took the score to 176 when Atapattu was out for a brilliant innings of 73.

He dominated the field on the first day plus the time he spent on the wicket today. Although Waqar Younis was anxious to complete his tally of 300 test wickets by clinching a wicket but instead the Pakistan spinners netted four of them before lunch. It was an occasion to celebrate when Arjuna Ranatunga took the crease to achieve the distinction of becoming the only player to play his country's 1st as well as the 100th test. The luck was however, not with him when he was run out after scoring only 6 runs. Sri Lanka lost the 5th wicket at 187. Kaluwitharana and Chaminda Vaas were the next to go before lunch with the score board showing 206 for 7.

After Atapattu, Jayawardene was the next shining star appearing on Sri Lanka's cricket horizon. Facing every type of bowling with immense confidence he saved the Sri Lanka's innings from disintegration and took the score to 257 before he was out after playing a masterly innings of 77.

Mutiah Muralitharan and the debutante Fernando, the last men on the crease were the typical tail-enders. They tried to collect the maximum runs through airy-fairy shots and did pretty well to raise the Sri Lanka's score to 273 before the inning ended. It was by all means a fighting total.

The significant feature of the day was the Muralitharan's ouster that provided Waqar Younis the glorious 300th wicket of his illustrious test career. Wasim Akram remains just one short of the historical mark of 400 test wickets.

Facing a challenging total of 273 runs, Pakistan opened the innings with Saeed Anwar and Mohammad Wasim, who had some how been preferred over Imran Nazir for this match. Getting out with only 16 runs on the board, Wasim was unable to show his skill. It was not an auspicious start.

Younis Khan who gained prominence by scoring a test century on debut against Sri Lanka in March this year came to bat. He along with Saeed Anwar raised the score to 67 when Pakistan lost the 2nd wicket, Younis Khan was out after scoring a painstaking 23. Yousuf Youhana, a batsman in perfect form for some time and having won "Man of the Series" award in the Asia Cup took the crease but was back to the pavilion immediately after scoring only 2 runs. Pakistan thus lost the third precious wicket at 75. By clinching two of the three wickets, Muralitharan had proved his magic.

Moin Khan joined Saeed Anwar, one of the most prolific batsmen in the side, who was playing the sheet anchor even in this innings. Through some delightful stroke play, both of them raised Pakistan's score to 130 for 3 when the play ended. Saeed Anwar (56) and Moin Khan (31) were holding the crease. Having clinched two out of three wickets, Muralitharan was the only bowler to cause some trouble to the Pakistani batsmen.

Though having lost 3 important wickets, the Pakistan team appears to have enough strength to end up closer to Sri Lanka's total, or may even manage a reasonable lead.

Day3: It's turned out to be a one-innings test match

Pakistan resumed the innings at the overnight score of 130 for 3. It was an inauspicious start for, Saeed Anwar playing sheet anchor for Pakistan was out in the first over. He had played an invaluable innings of 56.

Inzamam-ul-Haq came in but did not look to be in his normal self. He was out after scoring only 12 runs. Abdur Razzaq was run out without scoring bringing down Pakistan to 159 for 6. Except for Moin Khan who kept the crease with confidence and scored a prolific 47, Pakistan's batting was absolutely subdued. They kept losing wickets one after the other without collecting the required runs.

In a futile effort to establish a solid innings by playing slow and steady, Pakistan lost 9 wickets for 176 runs. In 35 overs game till lunch, Pakistan scored only 59 runs at the cost of 6 wickets. It was a poor display of batsmanship, absolutely dull and dreary from the spectators point of view. With a magnificent haul of 5 wickets, Muralitharan had perhaps cast a spell of magic on the batsmen.

A miraculous transformation occurred all of a sudden in the shape of a 10th wicket partnership between Wasim Akram and Arshad Khan. The two players brought a remarkable recovery in the Pakistan's innings raising its score to 263 for 9 by tea time. While Wasim Akram piled up runs punishing every bowler including the highly dreaded Muralitharan, Arshad Khan kept the other end intact like a stone wall. Staying at the wicket for a full session between lunch and tea and scoring runs was gigantic effort on the part of Wasim Akram. In this process he hit a number of prolific sixes and fours. At tea Wasim Akram was going strong with 77 while Arshad Khan was at 7.

Pakistan's inning ended immediately after tea, when hero of the innings Wasim Akram was bowled by Fernando after a heroic knock of 78. With a solid support from Arshad Khan (9), Wasim Akram was able to raise the Pakistan's total to 266, only 7 runs short of the Sri Lankan total of 273.

Sri Lankan 2nd innings

Sri Lanka commenced the 2nd innings in a steady posture but lost two wickets with only 25 runs on the board. Trapped LBW by Waqar Younis Jayasuriya was the first to go while Russel Arnold was caught by Mohammad Wasim in the slips off Wasim Akram.

This wicket brought the moment of rejoicing for Wasim Akram as well as for Pakistan. He had achieved the historical landmark of 400 test wickets, thus becoming the 4th bowler in cricket history to do so.

Marvin Atapattu and Aravinda de Silva however, pulled the game up. On account of fading light the play was ended with Sri Lanka at 53 for 2. Atapattu (33) and De Silva (10) were holding the crease.

Wasim Akram's glorious innings of 78, his achieving the milestone of 400 test wickets and the 5 wickets haul by Muralitharan were the salient features of the play.

Day4: Wasim is the hero for Pakistan

Sri Lanka resumed at the last evening's score of 53 for 2 against the attack of Abdur Razzaq, a gentle medium pacer and Arshad Khan, the off spinner. There were hardly any spectators on the ground to enjoy the game.

Pakistan met with its first success of the day, when Marvan Atapattu, the main stay of the Sri Lankan innings was out after scoring invaluable 40 runs. Sri Lanka had only 67 runs on the board. Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka's new star who did well in the 1st innings was next to go. Aravinda De Silva departed after him but he contributed a useful 21 to Sri Lanka's small total. Kaluwitharana followed him after scoring only 6 runs. Sri Lanka lost 6 wickets for a poor score of 82.

Arjuna Ranatunga who achieved the honour of becoming the only cricketer to represent his country in its inaugural as well as the 100th test, also failed to perform well in the 2nd innings.

At lunch Sri Lanka was 117 for 7 with Vaas (19) and Zoysa (11) holding the crease. In the morning session of 35 overs Sri Lanka had scored only 64 runs losing 5 wickets in the bargain.

As the game resumed after lunch, Pakistan met with one success after the other. Sri Lanka lost the remaining 3 wickets in a span of 6 runs, with the innings ending at a disappointing total of 123 runs. Adding the 1st innings lead of 7 runs, Pakistan needed 131 runs to win.

With a splendid haul of 5 wickets for 45 runs, Wasim Akram was the chief wrecker of the Sri Lankan batting. For his 3 for 30 Arshad Khan also bowled remarkably well.

Pakistan 2nd innings

Pakistan had a small target of 131 runs to win the test match. In should have triumphed more easily than it did. With star opener Saeed Anwar getting out with only 19 runs on the board, the start was not very encouraging. Yousuf Youhana another dependable batsman also left after scoring only 11 runs at the total score of 50. It was not a bad score at the cost of 2 wickets. Mohammad Wasim's departure only with the addition of one run to the total, however, caused anxiety in the Pakistan camp.

A lot depended on Inzamam-ul-Haq, the batsman in perfect form and a player capable of even bringing the stars down. Unfortunately he could not stay long after scoring 13 runs. With 66 for 4, Pakistan was not under tremendous pressure.

Since Muralitharan was the most troublesome bowler in the Sri Lanka team, a wise change was made in Pakistan's batting order. Wasim Akram who had punished Murali in the 1st innings was promoted. He along with Moin Khan raised the total to 89 when Moin Khan left after scoring 13 runs. The Sri Lanka bowling - fielding combination had put Pakistan under lot of pressure and reduced them to a defensive posture.

Younis Khan who came in to bat combined well with Wasim Akram. With Muralitharan in full command, they could not take risks. Playing with immense courage the two batsmen kept piling up runs, occasionally hitting a four. It was a queer situation. While Pakistan was under pressure, Sri Lanka suffered from anxiety. After a long wait Younis Khan pick up the courage to come down the pitch and hit Muralitharan for a straight six. The shot took the score to 123 for 5. Two singles added to the score Younis Khan repeated the action by hitting another fabulous six to Murali that brought the marvelous victory to Pakistan. With the victory target of 131 runs achieved, Pakistan won the test by 5 wickets. Younis Khan (32) and Wasim Akram (20) remained not out.

A 5 wickets haul by Wasim Akram, excellent bowling by Muralitharan who kept Pakistan under pressure and claimed 3 of the 5 wickets, and some splendid shots by Younis Khan were the salient features of the day's play. Pakistan is now confidently poised for the remaining series.

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