Fri, 25 Nov 2011-Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in UAE 2011-12,Only T20I - Bulletin

Misbah takes PAK home in thriller

Misbah-ul-Haq kept his cool in a tricky chase in the T20 against Sri Lanka to steer his team home with five wickets to spare. Sri Lanka despite a promising start faltered towards the end to be all-out for 141 inside the 20 overs. Pakistan also started brightly but lost their way in the middle before Misbah’s steady 48-run knock with contributions from Asad Shafiq and Shahid Afridi was enough to see Pakistan through.

Chasing a middling total of 142, Pakistan got off to a rapid start as Lasith Malinga erred in the first over and was taken for three boundaries by Imran Farhat. Immediately the Slinger was taken off but Thisara Parera slowed things down as he got one to bend in sharply to trap Mohammad Hafeez leg before in the fourth over.

Parera was involved in the next dismissal also as Imran Farhat perished in the deep trying to hit Ajantha Mendis out of the park. When Umar Akmal fell to Dilshan, Pakistan were in some strife at 44 for three.

Asad Shafiq and Misbah-ul-Haq steadied the ship by playing out few overs without taking any risks. During this period, runs mostly came through ones and twos. It was until Misbah decided to go downtown, slog-weeping Dilruwan Parera for a biggie. Shafiq joined in with his third boundary before he was bowled for 33.

With Pakistan needing 43 off 24 deliveries, Shahid Afridi was ideal man for the job but it was Misbah who hit three well placed shots in the seventeenth over off Dilhara Fernando to swing the match in their favour. Malinga bowled a six-run over to peg back Pakistan a bit, however, Afridi restored parity with two sixes off Fernando who conceded 36 runs in his four overs. Afridi fell on the last ball of his spell as the equation came down to nine ff the last over to be bowled by Malinga.

With pressure building up on everyone, Misbah went for two runs off the first ball, Angelo Mathews throw missed Sangakkara’s gloves and yielded six runs for Pakistan. The ‘cool as a cucumber’ Misbah ran a single on the next one and Shoaib Malik dug out a yorker for couple more to seal the match in Pakistan’s favour.

Earlier, Sri Lanka after batting first made a positive start with both their openers playing some enterprising shots upfront. They raced to 29 after three overs before Aizaz Cheema rattled Upul Tharanga’s stumps with a quick delivery. However, Tillakaratne Dilshan kept the runs flowing, crashing Cheema for a boundary in the same over.

He was joined by Dinesh Chandimal even as the early wicket didn’t affect run scoring with fifty coming up in the fifth over. Dilshan welcomed Saeed Ajmal with a lofted boundary but the wily spinner had his revenge next ball as the Sri Lankan skipper top-edged an attempted slog sweep for 28.

Chandimal kept the score board ticking over with smart running and intelligent short selection to take Sri Lanka to 91 for 3 at the half way stage even though Kumar Sangakkara offered a return catch to Hafeez for just 9.

However, Sri Lanka lost momentum in the second half as Pakistan pressed its spinners into service. Ajmal, recently crowned as the number one bowler in the one-dayers, along with Shahid Afridi and Hafeez curtailed the scoring by preventing a boundary in almost seven overs. The run-outs of Angelo Mathews and Chamara Silva compounded the problem for Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, Chandimal completed his maiden T20 fifty before Aizaz Cheema struck thrice in the nineteenth over to leave Sri Lanka in disarray. Umar completed the demolition job with two wickets off successive deliveries in the next over as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 141 in 19.3 overs, losing their last six wickets for only 8 runs.