Date-stamped : 30 May97 - 14:18
29 May 1997 Formula yet to be found to muzzle Sri Lanka

Kishore Bhimani

CALCUTTA, May 28: In many ways the second final at the packed
Eden Gardens on Tuesday night was an eerie replay of the first
encounter at Mohali, Sri Lanka won the coveted toss; batted
first, made far too many runs, Pakistan set out in futile
pursuit under terrible pressure lost key wickets at regular
intervals and ended up considerably short of the target.

For the record, here at the Eden Gardens, the shortfall was 85
runs. there were other points of similarity also ÷ Aaqib Javed
went for too many runs (at Calcutta none for 49 in 6 overs)
Saqlain took wickets (4 for 53) but could not check the flow of
runs and Pakistan fielded poorly, once more dropping catches at
crucial moments, including one of the rampaging Jayasuriya.

There is no point dwelling on what might have happened in
Pakistan had won the toss. Suffice it to say, that they would
surely have themselves set a formidable target. As the facts of
the case were, the Pakistanis were condemned to the leather hunt
on a murderously sapping afternoon, during which the temperature
was only 34 degrees, but the humidity was 98 per cent.

The battle of attrition in the field saw the islanders turning
on the pressure, picking up runs at will, chipping away not only
at the sheer stamina of the opposition but at their very spirit
of contest. It takes a lot to be asked to chose at over a run a
ball twice in four days; but to their credit the Pakistanis
stayed well within reach of the asking rate till the score board
read 193 for 4. But now the wickets suddenly fell in a heap and
the batting side were all out for 224 in just 43.1 overs.

The absence of Inzmam had earlier made the task look even more
formidable. If ever the Pakistanis had missed their senior
players. Tuesday was the day. While Rameez Raja led from the
front scoring an impressive 76, he seemed bereft of ideas in the
face of the rampaging Sri Lankan batsmen, Wasim Akram, Waqar
Younis and the wily Mushtaq would have had a game plan for the
occasion.

As it transpired, Jayasuriya, who would later be declared man of
the series, and then Aravinda de Silva (man of the match) and
skipper Ranatunga just continued to hammer the bowling as if it
was a net practice session. The islanders had reached 141 for 3
in an incredible 20 overs and were still cruising at 188 for 4
after 30 overs, maintaining the six-plus-an-over average which
seldom faltered throughout the innings.

One way or another, the Sri Lankans had a game plan. They
figured that the main attack weapon of the opposition was
Saqlain Mushtaq and they went after the off spinner with venom.
Spin bowlers, who act as strike bowlers in limited-overs
cricket, also run the risk of being targeted. The Sri Lankan
plan worked for a while and they could well take solace from the
foot that the bowler picked up wickets largely at the end. But
if you viewed Saqlain's figures in contrast to say Afridi (one
for 40 in five) they don't look to bad. Aqib was even worse,
recalling the nightmare of his first match in this tournament,
ending with figures of 49 in six overs without a wicket. Saqlain
kept things down in the concluding overs which must rate as a
feat in itself with Sri Lanka 254 for 4 in 40 overs.

One of the major lessons of this tournament is that no one has
yet even remotely found a formula which can muzzle the rampaging
Sri Lankans. The Pakistanis came up with the idea of off-spinner
Arshad Khan opening the bowling with Aqib. This actually worked
for a while with little action in the first few overs. But when
he tried to flight the ball, Jayasuriya went berserk. Nothing
works with the Sri Lankan openers and someone ruefully suggested
that only way to check the Sri Lankan charge was to arrest the
two openers for unprovoked aggression. The other lesson is that
summer cricket in the subcontinent is not such a good idea. Too
many cramps, two many muscle strains and too much wastage of
precious energy for the player however he might be otherwise
compensated.

Source::  Dawn (http://xiber.com/dawn/)

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