Sri Lanka bowl over Pakistan to win the One Day Series
On a fine but cool sunny morning in the industrial city of Gujranwala, just north of Lahore, the 2nd One-Day International got underway on a lush green ground. A packed stadium was awaiting the toss and the crowd was expecting a comeback by Pakistan that was not to be. The PCB can be thankful this series is pulling in the crowds! The pitch seemed flat and all the expectations for a high scoring match seemed to be justified.
Pakistan had included Azhar Mahmood, recently recovered from a groin injury and the flamboyant Shoaib Akthar who returns after serving a one-match suspension awarded him by the PCB for some nocturnal activities in Australia. The two captains strolled to the middle and again Saeed Anwar won the toss and decided to field. Wasim opened the bowling for Pakistan but did not trouble the Sri Lankan openers, Jayasuriya and Kaluwithrana. Runs flowed steadily and after 7 overs they looked set for a high total. No chances were given and the Pakistani's seemed a bit lacklustre.
Although Shoaib was cheered by the crowd and produced the odd bouncer which raised some eyebrows, did not get any breakthroughs. Jayasuriya lead the scoring with some fine cuts to point. Towards the end of the fast bowlers first spell Kaluwithrana opened up and in the 10th over hit a flurry of 4's setting Sri Lanka up for a total of 250+. Sri Lanka were at 55/0 after 10 overs.
The next 10 over session after saw Jayasuriya and Kauwithrana continue their march, much to Pakistani fans anguish.
At 13.5 a run out chance was muffed up by youngster Imran Nazir who had fielded the ball well at square leg but in his excitement, threw the ball way over a shocked Moin who raised his arms and frowned back.
Pakistan got their first break when Abdul Razzaq, man of series in Australia struck and Moin held on with a fine diving catch, inches above the ground in front of first slip sending Kaluwithrana back to the pavilion. Atapattu, the MoM from the last game and in-form in this series, came in and got off the mark on his first ball. After 16 overs Sri Lanka were 85/1 and had decided to go for singles rather than trying to hit boundaries. On the fourth ball of Razzaq's 16th over Atapattu just managed to get home after a throw from Saeed Anwar hit the stumps.
Runs continued to flow steadily and at 18.5 Jayasuryia reached his back-to-back 50 off 55 balls with a strike rate 90.7.
Saqlain replaced Azhar for the 19th over and at this ground in 1996, he had his best figures of 5 for 44 against New Zealand. Pakistan was hoping for a repeat performance but that was not to be. However, singles kept flowing almost on every ball and the Lankans reached 101/1 after 20 overs.
The Pakistan fielding was slack and their body movements seemed to indicate that they had no tricks up their sleeves to prevent a big Sri Lankan total.
The Pakistan bowling was far tighter in the post 20 over session and the run rate declined. Azhar the all rounder took over from Razzaq at the 24th over. Jayasuriya tried a sweep off Saqlain and got Jayasuriya to top edge a sweep, Moin ran in and held on, he was out for 65 off 78 balls. The crowd roared their approval as Jayawardene came in to bat.
After 25 overs the Lankans were 121/2. They continued taking singles by pushing the ball into vacant areas. Jayawardene looked comfortable, playing with a very straight bat, not trying for any big shots. At the end of 26 overs Atapattu was at 17 off 32 balls while his companion had 1 off 9 balls. In the seven overs after the first 19, the decline in the run rate was clear because only 19 runs were scored.
Saqlain's first 6 overs only cost 3 runs per over and had taken 1 wicket, economical as usual. After 30 overs SL were 132/2 with a run rate down to 4.4. This match seemed now poised for an exciting finish.
Sri Lanka continued to consolidate from a fine start. Aamer Sohail replaced Saqlain for the 32nd over and had Jayawardene (9 off 27 balls) stumped of a wide and the TV umpire was asked for a decision.
In came Vaas as a pinch hitter. Razzaq came in for Azhar for the 34th over and a loud lbw appeal was declined. After 35 overs Sri Lanka were 153/3 with a run rate of 4.37. In the previous 10 overs Sri Lanka had managed only 31 runs. The 37th over proved costly for Pakistan in which Vaas hit a big six over Aamer's head on the 4th ball. Aamer Sohail's 4th over was also hit around for 12 runs, this time with another six by Vaas off his first ball over long off. After 40 overs Sri Lanka were 189/3, with Atapattu on 43 off 68 balls and Vaas on 26 off 24 balls, still looking for a target of 250+.
Finally, Vaas was caught and bowled by Wasim for 34 off 33 balls and SL were 199/4. The new man was Arnold. Sri Lanka reached their 200 at 42.5 and Atapattu continued where he had left off from his last innings, giving no chance to Pakistan, reaching his fifty off 75 balls at 44.1 with a lovely boundary. He looked fully in charge and Sri Lanka reached 223/4 after 45 overs. Runs kept coming and loose balls were sent on their way to the boundaries. At 46.5 Youhana took a brilliant catch dismissing Atapattu for 57 off 82 balls when he tried to pull Saqlain. In came de Saram. Saqlain conceded 12 runs off his last over with a six off the first ball.
Wasim was brought back for the 48th over but could not staunch the flow of runs. At 49 overs Sri Lanka were 259/5 having reached the highest ever ODI total at Gujranwala. Wasim started the final over of the SL innings to de Saram who took a single off the second ball passing the strike to Arnold. On the fifth ball de Saram was run out as Wasim got a finger onto the ball that struck the stumps and Dilshan came in to face the final ball. At 50 overs Sri Lanka had made an imposing 263/6 and the question in everyone's mind was: Will Pakistan make it?
The first 10 overs in the afternoon session saw Pakistan openers Saeed Anwar and Aamer Sohail come out to face Wickramasinghe and Vaas after being docked 1 over for a slow over rate. Anwar got a single off the first ball and Aamer performed a Chinese cut for four off the fifth ball. After 2 overs Pakistan were 8 without loss. The third over was productive for Pakistan when Anwar managed consecutive fours off the first two balls, albeit the second was an edge.
Vaas struck back for Sri Lanka in his second over, getting the Pakistan captain, who skied a hook to Chandana at square leg. Pakistan were 23/1 and youngster Imran Abbas came in at one down and after 4 overs Pakistan were 24/1. It seemed that Imran was to play the anchor role and Aamer to do the scoring. The run rate stayed at the 5+ mark in the first 6 overs with Pakistan getting to 32/1. An impatient Imran kept being sent back by Aamer in the 7th over but was finally run out on the 4th ball. Youhana came in to partner Aamer Sohail. The run rate slowed down in the last two overs and after 10 overs Pakistan were 49/2 after Aamer had a lucky escape as his flick off the first ball fell short of Chandana.
At 10.2 Aamer was caught by Dilshan trying to pull a short ball and Pakistan now faced an uphill task at 50/3. Younis Khan the exciting new find, who did well in the previous match, came in to join experienced Yousuf Youhana.
At 11.1 Pakistan got a bonus of 5 runs due to an overthrown four! Younis was watchful trying to get his eye in and after 13 overs Pakistan had reached 63/3, requiring 201 off 36 overs for a RRR of 5.58.
The crowd realising that there was trouble ahead for Pakistan became unruly and the game was held up at 13.1 overs because Muralitharan was sent some unwanted gifts and the umpires called for early drinks.
In the 15th over Younis Khan showed some aggression with a pull shot for four and helped up the run rate to 4.8 with Pakistan on 72/3 after 15. Chandana took over from Wickramasinghe for the 17th over. The run rate stayed at 4.8 at the end of 20 overs with Pakistan needing 169 off the remaining 29 overs for a RRR of 5.79.
The next 10 over session after the first 20 overs, saw a semblance of recovery for Pakistan, Younis Khan, batting well made an excellent late cut for four off Jayasuriya at 22.4 but was soon out, going for a drive off the wily Muralitharan. He was bowled playing outside a ball that spun in and Pakistan were now 118/4. Moin Khan came in and did his usual! He played with authority and helped Youhana reach his fifty at 27.6 with a single to long on.
After reaching Youhana looked to the sky in thanks, having finally got some runs. The partnership continued until Moin was yorked by the Sri Lankan captain at 29.5 for a score of 15 off 18 balls and Pakistan ended the 30 overs at 151/5 with Youhana at 53 off 61 balls. Abdur Razzaq came in next and everyone was asking 'can the Pak lower order pull this game away from Sri Lanka?'
The required run rate was 5.92 but they only had 5 wickets and 19 overs to go.
The spinners were in full flow, the slog overs on and 5 wickets are down! Youhana had a fifty and the new man was Pakistan's hero from the Carlton & United Series in Australia. Expectations were high that these two could pull off an unlikely win for Pakistan.
However, light was fading fast and the D/L rule may be needed. At this point the run rates were very similar but Pakistan only had 5 wickets to go. After 34 overs Pak were at 166/5 still requiring 98 off 15 overs with Razzaq on 10 and Youhana on 58 when drinks were called for.
Vaas came back for the 36th over and some risky singles were being taken but Razzaq fell, caught behind off the fifth ball of the over for 14 with the score at 176/6. Azhar Mahmood ambled in, to partner Youhana and again the pressure was on the Pakistan tail.
Well, Azhar did not last long and was out off Chandana's bowling, holing out to Dilshan for 2 runs leaving Pakistan struggling at 181/7 with 12 overs to go and a distant 83 to get.
At 38.2 Wasim the new batsman decided to go for a six off Arnold and sent it flying over long on and the 39th over yielded 7 valuable runs. After 40 overs Pakistan had 3 wickets in hand and needed 66 runs of 9 overs. Could they do it?
Wickramasinghe got Youhana out, off his first ball at 49.1, spooning a simple catch to Chandana and effectively sealed Pakistan's fate. Pakistan was 8 down for 198 and Saqlain came in to bat. The crowd decided to come to Pakistan's aid by throwing in the 4's and 6's placards together with a few plastic bottles for good measure, holding up play for a few minutes. Wasim came onto the charge and sent ball 40.4 for a six over mid on bringing up the 200. After 41 Pakistan were 205 for 8 still needing 59 off 48 balls.
Muralitharan was brought back for the 42nd over and slowed the scoring down. Reportedly, Shoaib was injured so Wasim and Saqlain may have been the last pair. Unfortunately for Pakistan, Jayasuriya decided to finish them off early and bowled Saqlain at 42.4 but Shoaib did decide to come in with a runner.
The scene was: One man to down, 38 balls to go, 55 to get! Then Wasim decided to do it single handedly. He hit Muralitharan for two sixes getting the crowd excited and Pakistan were now on 229/9 after 44 overs.
The drama of appeals, not outs, edges and big slogs continued and after 45 overs Pakistan needed 35 more off 24 balls with Wasim at 34 not out.
Then Muralitharan dashed Pakistan's hopes at 45.1 by bowling Wasim Akram who got an inside edge onto his stumps and Sri Lanka won the match by 34 runs and the Series 2-0. Pakistan was all out for 229. Expectedly the Man of the Match was the Sri Lanka Captain who scored 65 and took 2 key wickets. Pakistan will have to look for a consolation win at the Gadaffi Stadium, Lahore and the Pakistan Cricket Board may well need to bolster their side by bringing back some of the senior players ostensibly, back from being "rested". After the next and final ODI on 19 Feb, the two teams play a 3 Test Series. The Lankans may justifiably feel they can win that series too on Pakistan's home turf. We saw a good contest and the better team won!
