Sun, 20 Nov 2011-Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in UAE 2011-12, 4th ODI - Bulletin

All-round Afridi takes Pakistan to series win

It was a day that completely belonged to Shahid Afridi- first he rescued Pakistan from a precarious 120 for 7 with a timely 75 run knock and then weaved his magic with the ball to spark off a slide in the Sri Lankan batting that saw them lose seven wickets for 19 runs. He returned with figures of 5 for 35 to give Pakistan an unlikely 26-run victory and with it the series as well.

Chasing 201 on a sluggish track against a quality bowling attack with an army of spinners was not going to be easy for Sri Lanka. To make their job even more difficult, Aizaz Cheema bowled a lively spell with the new ball. Upul Tharanga after a fortuitous boundary through second slip was smartly caught by Younis Khan in the same region in the seventh over.

In Cheema’s next over, an edge from Kumar Sangakkara went between keeper and slip but the bowler did not lose heart and bowled an absolute beauty to have Tillakaratne Dilshan caught behind for 11. An edgy Dinesh Chandimal edged one through vacant third slip, hit a fluent drive through covers before dragging a Hafeez delivery on to the stumps.

At 53 for 3 in the 13th over, Kumar Sangakkara was joined by his old friend Mahela Jayawardene and the two set about rebuilding without any delay. Initially, they concentrated on ones and twos knowing that Sri Lanka couldn’t afford another wicket at that stage.

However, the Pakistan spinners with their bagful of tricks made life difficult for both of them. Afridi and Saeed Jamal bowled in tandem to stifle the scoring before the release shot came from the bat of Mahela, slog sweep off Ajmal landed beyond the ropes on leg side. As a result, the field opened up a bit and the two took advantage by milking the bowlers and put the Sri Lankan chase back on track.

In the 38th over, Afridi returned for his second spell, Sangakkara smashed his fourth delivery for a four to bring up hundredth run of the partnership before a sharp turner disturbed his furniture. Having lost Sangakkara for 58, Sri Lanka were still the favourites but the Pakistan bowlers had other ideas.

Angelo Mathews was caught down the leg side in the next over off Ajmal’s bowling; Afridi trapped Mendis in front before removing Mahela Jayawardene and Prasanna on successive deliveries. Ajmal got one more and Afridi fittingly sent back last man Parera to limit Sri Lanka to 174. From 155 for 3, Sri Lanka capitulated in a spectacular fashion losing the last seven wickets for 19 runs in 7.3 overs.Earlier, Pakistan elected to bat on a pitch different from the usual Sharjah tracks that over the years have produced some high scoring games. Their openers after the huge partnership in the last match started steadily but lack of pace made run making a difficult activity form the very outset. Imran Farhat in the sixth over gloved one for Sangakkara to take a good catch down the leg side.After the early loss, Younis Khan and Mohammad Hafeez tried to settle down things with a steady 39 run stand before the latter played a reckless shot to be caught near the ropes. With the fall of Hafeez’s wicket on 57 in the sixteenth over, Pakistan lost wickets in a hurry as Sri Lanka, desperate for a win, tightened the screws.

In the next over, Younis Khan failed to read a slower one from Fernando and offered an easy catch to the man at short-cover. Comeback man, Shoaib Malik scratched around for 21 deliveries before a Jeevan Mendis’ googly trapped him in front of stumps. Anotherwrong’un from the same bowler got better of Umar Akmal as the score card read five down for 71.

Amidst this collapse that was result of poor application by the batsmen against some decent bowling by the Lankan spinners, Misbah-ul-Haq had hit two boundaries and remained Pakistan’s major hope of mounting a rearguard. He was joined by Shahid Afridi and before the two could undo some of the damage, Misbah’s poor judgment in running once cost him his wicket. When Sarfraz Ahmed was dismissed in the 35th over, Pakistan were starring down the barrel at seven for 120.

By then, Shahid Afridi had already moved to 28 off 33 deliveries, with his side in need of a substantial knock from the swashbuckling batsman. And, he responded with a restrained innings helping Pakistan put some kind of total on the board.

Although, the situation demanded a watchful approach to batting, Afridi did not unnecessarily block his scoring areas, often going after balls pitched in his hitting zone. He brought up his fifty with a six over extra-cover off Seekkuge Prasanna. With Saeed Ajmal for company, he added 61 before edging Thisara Parera to the keeper. Nevertheless, his 75 run knock punctuated by four boundaries and three sixes pushed Pakistan to 200 all-out.