Mon, 14 Nov 2011-Pakistan vs Sri Lanka,Pakistan and Sri Lanka in UAE 2011-12,2nd ODI - Bulletin

Seamers help SL level series

Sri Lankan seamers led by Lasith Malinga put up a spirited performance to help their side defend a modest target of 236 and level the series 1-1. Courtesy 77 from opener Upul Tharanga and Mahela Jayewardene’s solid fifty boosted Sri Lanka to scrappy 235 before Malinga and co. got seven wickets-including three in batting-aided by three run-outs to fashion out an impressive 25 run victory.

Umar Akmal countered Sri Lankan charge with an impressive 91 studded with eight fours and a six and Shahid Afridi’s cameo late in the chase was only substantial contribution as Pakistan threatened the target in patches but resilient Sri Lankan bowlers came back strongly to deny Pakistan advantage . Besides Malinga’s 3 for 36, Thissara Perera had also excellent returns of 2 for 30 and expensive Dilhara Fernando too was amongst the wickets getting a brace.

Malinga stung Pakistan hard in the first over of the chase to reduce the hosts 4 for 2 removing Mohammad Hafeez and Younis Khan in the matter of three balls. After hitting Malinga for a leg-side boundary, Hafeez poked at Malinga’s out-going delivery for Kumar Sangakkara to complete the catch behind the stumps. Two balls later Younis followed the suit to be dismissed for a duck. And it got worse for Pakistan with comeback seamer Thissara Perera trapping opener Imran Farhat infront of stumps for as Pakistan slumped to 11 for 3 inside four overs.

Skipper Misbah-ul Haq fashioned out his typical rearguard blocking virtually everything but Umar was aggressive at other end. The talented batsman thumped some cracking strokes even as he was dropped by Angelo Mathews at short-cover early in the innings. The duo batted for almost 17 overs to take score to 75:most of them coming from Akmal’s blade.

With Pakistan meandering towards stability Dilhara Fernando made a crucial breakthrough getting one to nip back to hit Pakistan skipper’s pads infront of the wickets. He went for a laborious 21 off 53 balls.

Another 27 were added between Akmal and Abdur Razzaq before the latter was run-out by a accurate throw to bowler’s end while attempting to complete a second run. Young wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmad then played a supporting act to Akmal as the pair got involved in an effervescent stand. Ones and twos came a good clip, and, every now and then, Umar unleashed aggressive strokes.

Like Sri Lanka, Pakistan opted to take powerplay from 36th to 40th over and five overs saw Pakistan lose three wickets. Umar-in 38th over-cracked three back to back off-side boundaries to jump into 90’s but hit last ball straight to mid-on to leave the arena in disgust. Next over Malinga removed Sarfaraz for 24 and Perera got Umar Gul for a nought to have Pakistan reeling at 169 for 8.

Afridi kept his side in the hunt cracking three fours and a six but a brilliant piece of fielding by Sri Lankan skipper T Dilshan caught him short at striker’s end in his pursuit to get the strike. Afridi took only 14 balls to score 29 but his dismissal dashed Pakistan hopes.There was some resistance from the last pair but Sangakkara ran out Cheema to seal a comeback win for the beleaguered side.

Earlier Sri Lanka put a up a better batting effort than one in the first ODI with two of their top five hitting a half-centuries to boost their side to a 230-plus score. The fifties were contrasting, though, with Tharanga scoring his 77 off 120 balls and Jayawerdena returning to some form with a fluent fifty. For Pakistan, Shahid Afridi was yet again hero with the ball as Abdur Razzaq and Mohammad Hafeez too played a crucial role in putting a squeeze on run scoring in the middle overs.

Deciding to bat first, skipper T Dilshan and his opening partner Tharanga got the innings off to a decent. The captain in specific looked in a good touch mixing some aggressive strokes with sensible approach as the left handed Tharanga played neat off-side strokes. The pair put on 56 inside twelve overs before Afridi gave Pakistan a breakthrough in his first over. The ace leg spinner had Dilshan chopping one to his stumps for a very steady 40-ball 28 including four fours.Nine runs later, Razzaq got the big fish having Sangakkara caught and bowled for 5. Dinesh Chandimal joined Tharanga but the duo couldn’t get the big shots and ones and two were hard to come by. The Pakistanis-Afridi and Razzaq in particular-was very accurate and thrifty as well: so much so only 17 runs were scored between 20th to 30th over.

Chandimal’s struggling 37-ball stay for 15 ended when he missed Saeed Ajmal’s straighter one while attempting a mow through leg-side. In walked Jayawerdena to combine with Tharanga to give their side most productive period of the innings.

After doing a rearguard for major part of their 85 run stand, the pair upped the ante to 48 runs in the batting powerplay.Tharanga was graceful through off-side while Mahela, as usual, played all-round the park to get the innings going. Tharanga, who took 88 balls to get his fifty, scored last 27 of his 120-ball 77 off just 32 before becoming Afridi’s second victim of the day.

Mahela though kept going playing some cheeky shots to bring up his fifty as Angelo Mathews failed to play big knock departing for 3.Soon after his fifty, Mahela too was dismissed to have Sri Lanka 210 for 6 in 47 overs but Jeevan Mendis and Thisara Perera played useful cameos to boost the score to 235.

Afridi’s ten over quota cost him only 35 runs with a couple of wickets as well and Razzaq conceded just 18 in his eight.