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| Misbah-ul Haq |
(TOI)
COLOMBO. New wicket or old, re-laid strip or not, the curse of the chasing team just refuses to leave the R Premadasa Stadium. Despite a pathetic fielding performance after the 25-over mark, Pakistan notched up an 11-run win over hosts and tournament favourites Sri Lanka in a thrilling Group A clash of the World Cup on Saturday.
The result ensured that Pakistan maintained their unbeaten run against Sri Lanka in the World Cup, winning all seven games that the two teams have contested.
Chasing 278, Sri Lanka crumbled against the spin of talismanic Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi, who dismissed Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thilan Samaraweera, opposite number Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Matthews to notch up 300 ODI wickets. Sri Lanka folded up for 266 for 9. He also took the catch of Upul Tharanga at cover to start the Lankan collapse.
Chamara Silva, who was struggling early on, was dropped by Abdul Rehman at mid-wicket and he nearly made Pakistan pay scoring a valiant 57(78 balls, 5x4). It was the first time back in Lankan colours for the middle-order batsman after his sister's death and considering the situation, it was a fine effort.
The hosts had got off to a swift start with openers Upul Tharanga and Dilshan taking them to 76 for no loss in 14 overs. However, once the spinners were introduced, wickets started to tumble. The highlight of the Pakistan effort was the captaincy and bowling of Shahid Afridi. He maintained aggressive fields and kept up the intensity.
Afridi had a hand in five of the first six dismissals and it was quite an inspiring performance. Shoaib Akhtar's vicious in-cutter to classy Lankan bat Mahela Jayawardene which pegged back his middle-stump also was vintage stuff. Sri Lanka had the heart of their batting line-up ripped out in the space of 20 runs and 30 minutes.
Sangakkara who was a beneficiary of a fluffed stumping from Kamran Akmal on 33 also tried gamely to rescue the ship, but when he holed out to Ahmed Shehzad at long-on for 49, it was effectively game, set and match. Along with Silva, Sangakkara added 73 for the 5th wicket, but the mounting run-rate proved too much to handle.
Earlier, seasoned Pakistani pros Younis Khan 72 (76 balls, 4x4) and Misbah-ul Haq 83 not out (91 balls, 6x4), put on display a batting clinic of middle-overs, sans risk after Afridi won the toss and unsurprisingly batted on a pitch that is notorious for slowing down and taking spin in the second innings. The duo rescued Pakistan after the '92 champs had pressed the self-destruct button to slump to 105 for 3.
Without fuss they put on 108 runs off 123 balls to take Pakistan to a competitive 277/7. While Younis relied on drives to long on and long off, dabs to third man and turns to short fine-leg and the occasional lofted extra cover drive, Misbah was more adventurous.
Displaying good hockey skills, he even reverse swept the spinners for four. In between both defied their 35-plus age and ran like hares between the wickets. It was skill of the highest class and took you back to the days of Javed Miandad and Asif Iqbal.
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score card
| Pakistan innings (50 overs maximum) | R | M | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
| Ahmed Shehzad | c †Sangakkara b Perera | 13 | 24 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 56.52 |
| 5.3 135.8 kph, got 'em! Shehzad had shown signs of impatience the previous delivery, and this time he was lured into a drive outside off stump, it was pitched on a length, and moved away slightly to produce the fatal edge, bounced a lot more than usual too, and Sanga doesn't let go of those 28/1 |
| Mohammad Hafeez | run out (Herath/Jayawardene/†Sangakkara) | 32 | 63 | 31 | 4 | 1 | 103.22 |
| 13.1 from Muralitharan, oh dear, is anyone out, who is out, what is happening, it was full on leg stump and swept to short fine leg, there was a terrible mix-up, Kamran ran all the way to Hafeez who did not move an inch, the throw came in to Sanga, there were two batsman there, so he threw to Murali, who would have had to be eight feet tall to take the wayward throw, but the ball was in the end relayed to Murali, Hafeez thought of running to Murali's end just for a fleeting moment, abandoned such foolish thoughts, and Murali finally got the bails off, it is Hafeez who has to walk back finally 76/2 |
| Kamran Akmal† | st †Sangakkara b Herath | 39 | 68 | 48 | 5 | 0 | 81.25 |
| 20.2 82.1 kph, Well, Pakistan have lost three wickets. Kamran has taken more than any of the Sri Lankan bowlers - two. After sending Hafeez back with his wily running, he's now accounted for himself with an inexplicable unremarkable charge down the track. He seemed to have decided long back that, no matter what, this had to go over long on. And so he proceeded - to run down the track like a bull that had seen a red rag. Herath just stuck to his guns, landed it on middle and got it to turn away, past Kamran's mad, mad swipe. Miss. He doesn't have much time to turn back. Sanga does the rest. He didn't even turn back. Just kept walking. Good idea too. Vintage Kamran. 105/3 |
| Younis Khan | c Jayawardene b Herath | 72 | 108 | 76 | 4 | 0 | 94.73 |
| 40.5 90.0 kph, Younis departs, well someone had to go for it now, he went for the sweep, got a top-edge that looped up tamely in the air for a catch to short fine leg, Herath has justified his selection ahead of Ajantha, Younis has set up a late charge from Pakistan 213/4 |
| Misbah-ul-Haq | not out | 83 | 118 | 91 | 6 | 0 | 91.20 |
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| Umar Akmal | c Dilshan b Muralitharan | 10 | 21 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 66.66 |
| 45.3 Umar goes, it was short, a rare one from Murali, in his eagerness to capitalise on the scarce offering, he pulled it in the air, got in a awkward position as he went through with the shot, and Dilshan took sharp diving chance at deep midwicket, Murali has suffocated Pakistan in the Powerplay 238/5 |
| Shahid Afridi* | c Dilshan b Mathews | 16 | 18 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 133.33 |
| 48.5 129.2 kph, backs away and goes for the upper cut to a short and wide delivery, but cannot get it over Dilshan at point, who goes high at it with outstretched hands, and pouches it cleanly 267/6 |
| Abdul Razzaq | c sub (CK Kapugedera) b Perera | 3 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 75.00 |
| 49.6 high full toss, Razzaq had to go for maximum, and did so, but his swing produced a top edge that swirled high in the air and settled in the hands of extra cover, Sri Lanka will feel that they have restrained a Pakistan line-up that threatened to gallop away, but couldn't quite do so 277/7 |
| Extras | (lb 4, w 5) | 9 |
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| Total | (7 wickets; 50 overs; 220 mins) | 277 | (5.54 runs per over) |
| Did not bat Umar Gul, Abdur Rehman, Shoaib Akhtar |
| Fall of wickets1-28 (Ahmed Shehzad, 5.3 ov), 2-76 (Mohammad Hafeez, 13.1 ov), 3-105 (Kamran Akmal, 20.2 ov), 4-213 (Younis Khan, 40.5 ov), 5-238 (Umar Akmal, 45.3 ov), 6-267 (Shahid Afridi, 48.5 ov), 7-277 (Abdul Razzaq, 49.6 ov) |
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| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ |
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| KMDN Kulasekara | 10 | 1 | 64 | 0 | 6.40 | (1w) |
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| NLTC Perera | 9 | 0 | 62 | 2 | 6.88 | (2w) |
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| 5.3 to Ahmed Shehzad, 135.8 kph, got 'em! Shehzad had shown signs of impatience the previous delivery, and this time he was lured into a drive outside off stump, it was pitched on a length, and moved away slightly to produce the fatal edge, bounced a lot more than usual too, and Sanga doesn't let go of those 28/1 49.6 to Abdul Razzaq, high full toss, Razzaq had to go for maximum, and did so, but his swing produced a top edge that swirled high in the air and settled in the hands of extra cover, Sri Lanka will feel that they have restrained a Pakistan line-up that threatened to gallop away, but couldn't quite do so 277/7 |
| AD Mathews | 10 | 0 | 56 | 1 | 5.60 |
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| 48.5 to Shahid Afridi, 129.2 kph, backs away and goes for the upper cut to a short and wide delivery, but cannot get it over Dilshan at point, who goes high at it with outstretched hands, and pouches it cleanly 267/6 |
| M Muralitharan | 10 | 0 | 35 | 1 | 3.50 | (2w) |
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| 45.3 to Umar Akmal, Umar goes, it was short, a rare one from Murali, in his eagerness to capitalise on the scarce offering, he pulled it in the air, got in a awkward position as he went through with the shot, and Dilshan took sharp diving chance at deep midwicket, Murali has suffocated Pakistan in the Powerplay 238/5 |
| HMRKB Herath | 10 | 0 | 46 | 2 | 4.60 |
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| 20.2 to Kamran Akmal, 82.1 kph, Well, Pakistan have lost three wickets. Kamran has taken more than any of the Sri Lankan bowlers - two. After sending Hafeez back with his wily running, he's now accounted for himself with an inexplicable unremarkable charge down the track. He seemed to have decided long back that, no matter what, this had to go over long on. And so he proceeded - to run down the track like a bull that had seen a red rag. Herath just stuck to his guns, landed it on middle and got it to turn away, past Kamran's mad, mad swipe. Miss. He doesn't have much time to turn back. Sanga does the rest. He didn't even turn back. Just kept walking. Good idea too. Vintage Kamran. 105/3 40.5 to Younis Khan, 90.0 kph, Younis departs, well someone had to go for it now, he went for the sweep, got a top-edge that looped up tamely in the air for a catch to short fine leg, Herath has justified his selection ahead of Ajantha, Younis has set up a late charge from Pakistan 213/4 |
| TM Dilshan | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10.00 |
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| Sri Lanka innings (target: 278 runs from 50 overs) | R | M | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
| WU Tharanga | c Shahid Afridi b Mohammad Hafeez | 33 | 64 | 43 | 6 | 0 | 76.74 |
| 14.2 89.0 kph, well, I take that back. Hafeez has nailed Tharanga. As mentioned earlier, there is an army of green shirts inside the circle on the off side. Tossed up outside on leg, Tharanga drives on the up, and picks out Afridi at mid-off. He's thrilled after pouching the catch, tumbling forward. The game is back in the balance after Sri Lanka's recovery of sorts. 76/1 |
| TM Dilshan | b Shahid Afridi | 41 | 81 | 55 | 5 | 0 | 74.54 |
| 17.3 86.9 kph, boom booom strikes, it was too close for the cut, it was the one that went straight on, it was the one that kept low too, a deadly combination for Dilshan, who still went for the shot, and dinked it on to his stumps, Afridi stands mid-pitch with arms outstretched, has Pakistan's saviour arrived? 88/2 |
| KC Sangakkara*† | c Ahmed Shehzad b Shahid Afridi | 49 | 109 | 61 | 2 | 1 | 80.32 |
| 37.4 87.4 kph, Captain strikes. Captain falls. How much of a contribution did Gul have to this dismissal? Sanga skips out of the crease. Afridi sees him and drops it short outside off. Sanga still wants to go over the top, so stops his initial shot and tries to cross-bat it over long on. Too ambitious. Shehzad runs in, tumbles forward and pouches. Finally someone doesn't let a stumping or a catch go. 169/5 |
| DPMD Jayawardene | b Shoaib Akhtar | 2 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
| 20.2 138.0 kph, the Rawalpindi Express is chugging in at full steam, and has broken through the defences of Mahela, lovely delivery, pacy, on a length and cutting in, Mahela drove outside the line, and the middle stump was pegged back, Shoaib first does the aeroplane thing, then points to himself as if to say 'I told you' 95/3 |
| TT Samaraweera | st †Kamran Akmal b Shahid Afridi | 1 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| 21.2 88.6 kph, Shahid does the rope trick on Thilan, flights this one on middle, gets Thilan forward, and out of the crease, gets the ball to turn as well, Kamran does not mess up the take behind the stumps, in fact Thilan's foot is just out of the crease when Kamran takes off the bails, Shahid Afridi is one short of 300 ODI wickets 96/4 |
| LPC Silva | st †Kamran Akmal b Abdur Rehman | 57 | 115 | 78 | 5 | 0 | 73.07 |
| 46.1 90.0 kph, Silva's vigil ends. Rehman can't believe it. Kamran's actually effected a stumping off his bowling. Silva dawdles out of the crease, he looks for the heave. Rehman smartly gets it to drift away from him, and gets it past his stretched swipe. Kamran collects and breaks the stumps. Even he looks sheepish. 233/8 |
| AD Mathews | c Ahmed Shehzad b Shahid Afridi | 18 | 24 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 90.00 |
| 43.4 Angelo is gone. Afridi has four. Shehzad has another catch. Angelo skips out of the crease, and Afridi sees him. He holds the length back and gets it to turn away. Angelo is forced to go with the shot and tries to cross-bat swipe it over long off. Mistimed, and it carries straight to Shehzad. Almost cleared the ropes, but not quite. 209/6 |
| NLTC Perera | b Shoaib Akhtar | 8 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 133.33 |
| 45.5 Shoaib Akhtar - rearranging stumps and landing like an aeroplane since 1997. What a legend. Thisara is gone. He finds out the hard way, than you can't set yourself up for pre-meditated slogs against the world's fastest. He moves the front foot away and looks to heave. Shoaib fires it full and fast, and removes the timber. Get ready for landing folks. 232/7 |
| KMDN Kulasekara | c Umar Akmal b Umar Gul | 24 | 21 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 171.42 |
| 49.5 Gul has a wicket and Kula's free-scoring surge has come to an end. Not a yorker this time, it was a low full toss on leg stump and Kula couldn't get as much muscle under it as he would have wanted. Still went through with the shot, backing away and looking to launch it over long on. He found the fielder. 265/9 |
| HMRKB Herath | not out | 4 | 20 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 40.00 |
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| M Muralitharan | not out | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
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| Extras | (b 1, lb 10, w 16, nb 2) | 29 |
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| Total | (9 wickets; 50 overs; 238 mins) | 266 | (5.32 runs per over) |
| Fall of wickets1-76 (Tharanga, 14.2 ov), 2-88 (Dilshan, 17.3 ov), 3-95 (Jayawardene, 20.2 ov), 4-96 (Samaraweera, 21.2 ov), 5-169 (Sangakkara, 37.4 ov), 6-209 (Mathews, 43.4 ov), 7-232 (Perera, 45.5 ov), 8-233 (Silva, 46.0 ov), 9-265 (Kulasekara, 49.5 ov) |
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| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ |
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| Shoaib Akhtar | 10 | 0 | 42 | 2 | 4.20 |
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| 20.2 to Jayawardene, 138.0 kph, the Rawalpindi Express is chugging in at full steam, and has broken through the defences of Mahela, lovely delivery, pacy, on a length and cutting in, Mahela drove outside the line, and the middle stump was pegged back, Shoaib first does the aeroplane thing, then points to himself as if to say 'I told you' 95/3 45.5 to Perera, Shoaib Akhtar - rearranging stumps and landing like an aeroplane since 1997. What a legend. Thisara is gone. He finds out the hard way, than you can't set yourself up for pre-meditated slogs against the world's fastest. He moves the front foot away and looks to heave. Shoaib fires it full and fast, and removes the timber. Get ready for landing folks. 232/7 |
| Abdul Razzaq | 5 | 1 | 23 | 0 | 4.60 |
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| Umar Gul | 9 | 0 | 60 | 1 | 6.66 | (1nb, 2w) |
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| 49.5 to Kulasekara, Gul has a wicket and Kula's free-scoring surge has come to an end. Not a yorker this time, it was a low full toss on leg stump and Kula couldn't get as much muscle under it as he would have wanted. Still went through with the shot, backing away and looking to launch it over long on. He found the fielder. 265/9 |
| Mohammad Hafeez | 6 | 0 | 33 | 1 | 5.50 | (2w) |
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| 14.2 to Tharanga, 89.0 kph, well, I take that back. Hafeez has nailed Tharanga. As mentioned earlier, there is an army of green shirts inside the circle on the off side. Tossed up outside on leg, Tharanga drives on the up, and picks out Afridi at mid-off. He's thrilled after pouching the catch, tumbling forward. The game is back in the balance after Sri Lanka's recovery of sorts. 76/1 |
| Shahid Afridi | 10 | 0 | 34 | 4 | 3.40 | (1w) |
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| 17.3 to Dilshan, 86.9 kph, boom booom strikes, it was too close for the cut, it was the one that went straight on, it was the one that kept low too, a deadly combination for Dilshan, who still went for the shot, and dinked it on to his stumps, Afridi stands mid-pitch with arms outstretched, has Pakistan's saviour arrived? 88/2 21.2 to Samaraweera, 88.6 kph, Shahid does the rope trick on Thilan, flights this one on middle, gets Thilan forward, and out of the crease, gets the ball to turn as well, Kamran does not mess up the take behind the stumps, in fact Thilan's foot is just out of the crease when Kamran takes off the bails, Shahid Afridi is one short of 300 ODI wickets 96/4 37.4 to Sangakkara, 87.4 kph, Captain strikes. Captain falls. How much of a contribution did Gul have to this dismissal? Sanga skips out of the crease. Afridi sees him and drops it short outside off. Sanga still wants to go over the top, so stops his initial shot and tries to cross-bat it over long on. Too ambitious. Shehzad runs in, tumbles forward and pouches. Finally someone doesn't let a stumping or a catch go. 169/5 43.4 to Mathews, Angelo is gone. Afridi has four. Shehzad has another catch. Angelo skips out of the crease, and Afridi sees him. He holds the length back and gets it to turn away. Angelo is forced to go with the shot and tries to cross-bat swipe it over long off. Mistimed, and it carries straight to Shehzad. Almost cleared the ropes, but not quite. 209/6 |
| Abdur Rehman | 10 | 1 | 63 | 1 | 6.30 | (1nb, 3w) |
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