4th ODI: Perera Hat-Trick Sparks Epic Collapse as Sri Lanka win by 45 Runs

[SOSami]

Result: Sri Lanka win by 45 runs

Teams:

Sri Lanka
WU Tharanga, TM Dilshan, KC Sangakkara, LD Chandimal, DPMD Jayawardene, NLTC Perera, AD Mathews, HDRL Thirimanne, KMDN Kulasekara, SL Malinga, S Weerakoon

Pakistan
Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Sarfraz Ahmed, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Sohail Tanvir


Sri Lanka innings

Sri Lanka won the toss and predictably decided to bat first on a pitch expected to offer little assistance to the bowlers.

Pakistan started brightly, with Sohail Tanvir beginning with a maiden and Younis Khan snaffling a loose drive by Tharanga off Gul for just 4.

Sangakkara came in at number three, and struggled with his partner Dilshan to score quickly in the powerplay overs as the Pakistani opening bowlers dominated. He rode his luck too, with a close LBW being given not out to a Sohail Tanvir slower ball and also would have been run out had an Umar Akmal hit the stumps. That was the first of many missed chances in the field for Pakistan, as they failed to capitalise on a number of run out opportunities.

Mishbah has been attacked for his predictability in his bowling choices during the powerplay overs and decided to mix things up today, with veteran Younis Khan being asked to roll his arm over for a couple of overs. He was able to induce a chance against Sangakkara, but overall was fairly innocuous. He hasn't been the answer to Pakistan's batting line up, and certainly won't offer any assistance in the bowling department. Pakistan already have Hafeez as a top-order batsman who is relying on his bowling to retain his place in the side and certainly don't need another given the recent ODI batting woes.

Sangakkara and Dilshan struggled along, until Mohammad Hafeez, who had yet another impressive day with the ball, (10 overs, 2/37) trapped the Dilshan lbw in the first ball of his spell in the 16th over. The pressure applied by the bowlers had told as he tried to manipulate the ball through the employment of the sweep, leaving Sri Lanka 64/2 off 16 overs.

Youngster Dinesh Chandimal, who has had a quiet series by his standards, showed flashes the talent he possesses before he he was bowled for 18 by Hafeez as he looked to make room to cut. 90/3 after 25 overs.

Captain Jayawardene came out to bat with Sangakkara and the two looked to return some impetus to the innings as they have done so many times over the years.

Hafeez and Afridi bowled well in the middle overs and esured the experienced pair were unable to break free, and Afridi was able to carve out an easy chance for Gul in the 31st over, but Gul dropped a dolly at long on to give Sangakkara a life. That drop acted as a catalyst for the Sri Lankan batsman to increase the run rate. Gul was greeted with a lofted six by the same batsman to whom he has provided a reprieve and the boundries contrinued to flow until Sohail Tanvir yorked Jayawardene for 40(50) in the 43rd over. Sangakkara followed in the next over and wasn't able to complete a century as he was brilliantly caught in the deep by Azhar Ali off Saeed Ajmal for 97 off 130 balls, leaving Sri Lanka 204/5.

Mathews survived another run out opportunity, and big-hitter Perera was out to a hoik off Ajmal for just 8. Sri Lanka subequenlty lost two wickets in the remaining overs as Thirimanne (13) was run out by Shahid Afridi, a Pakistani fielder who finally managed to hit the stumps, and Kulasekara (3). Sri Lanka posted a par score, with the help of some shoddy Pakistani fielding, to 243/8.

Fall of wickets

1-9 Tharanga, 2.2 overs
2-64 Dilshan, 16.1 overs
3-90 Chandimal, 25.3 overs
4-200 Jayawardene, 43.4 overs
5-204 Sangakkara, 44.2 overs
6-214 Perera, 46.1 overs
7-237 Thirimanne, 48.3 overs
8-243 Kulasekara, 49.5 overs


Pakistan Innings

The Pakistani openers strode out hoping to put together a better partnership than the previous matches, but those hopes were quickly dashed when Hafeez was somewhat predictably out for a duck, caught hooking Malinga. Short delivers either side of the wicket are usually his forte, and the method of his dismissal provides an indicator of just how his form is. He now has consecutive ducks ODIs to go with three in his last four T20 innings, leaving him with five dots in his last six limited overs innings and many question marks over his batting position.

The pattern of the opening powerplay overs was similar to the Sri Lankan innings, with the batsmen making slow progress after the loss of an early wicket. Sri Lanka had managed just 35 runs for the loss of one wicket in their opening 10 overs, and Pakistani yielded just 29.

Asad Shafiq came out at number 3 and batted well for his 25 (34), which included a lofted boundary off Mathews and was lbw to Weerakoon, Pakistan 2/53.

This left Misbah and Azhar Ali to rebuild the innings, as the two batsmen more accustomed to building Test partnerships as they accumulated 113 runs off the next 24 overs. Misbah was dismissed for 57(77), after Kulasekara took a sharp catch at mid-off.

Kulasekara then picked up Umer Akmal was first to go out for a duck, tentatively driving after Sri Lanka had targeted him with the short ball.

Misbah's dismissal precipitated a monumental Pakistani collapse, as Perera picked up four wickets in the 41st over, including a hat-trick and a run-out. Younis Khan (1) was out caught behind trying to run the ball down to third man one, Afridi was next and hit his first delivery stright to cover and Sarfraz edged to slip. Sohail Tanvir was run out off the last ball of the over by hat trick hero Perera.

Umar Gul was next to go, first ball to Matthews.

This left cramping Azhar Ali and Ajmal to try an fashion an unlikely victory after Pakistan lost 7 wickets for 13 runs

Six ducks in the Pakistani innings after the bowlers has restricted Sri Lanka to a sub-250 score. This and most of the ODI matches in the last few years have raised plenty of question marks over the brittle Pakistani batting line-up. Will anyone find the answer?

Fall of wickets
1-0 Mohammad Hafeez 0.5 overs
2-53 Asad Shafiq, 13.4 overs
3-166 Misbah-ul-Haq, 37.3 overs
4-169 Umar Akmal, 38.4 overs
5-176 Younis Khan, 40.2 overs)
6-176 Shahid Afridi, 40.3 overs
7-176 Sarfraz Ahmed, 40.4 overs
8-176 Sohail Tanvir, 40.6 overs
9-179 Umar Gul, 41.2 overs
10-199 Ajmal, 45 overs

[Spidy201]

[FusedBulb]

Dav Whatmore must be thinking ... What the HECK I got myself into ?

[GLORY OF '92]

A joke of a batting line up. No one justifies their place apart from Azhar and Misbah Atm.

[khalil1986]

Worst batting I have seen in a while, What infuriates me is the same tried and tested players will keep on doing the rounds again and again.

[khalil1986]

Originally Posted by GLORY OF '92 A joke of a batting line up. No one justifies their place apart from Azhar and Misbah Atm.

Wait until some of the so called fans come and blame them two for the loss.

[KingKhanWC]

Bottled it!.....Again.

Apart from Malinga it's an average bowling attack. Once again they made an Indian type trundler in Perera into Shoaib Akhtar.

Azhar Ali was the only man who held up.

Time to clear out the cupboard of rusty old players who have no courage left and some who should never be part of limited overs cricket.

Younis Khan, Afridi, Misbah, Sarfraz, Tanvir, Hafeez need to move on. This is not knee jerk, the knee is broken now. Pakistan needs a fresh start with youngsters, Azhar Ali for captain.

[Amjid Javed]

What a gutless effort from our batting from numbers 5 downwards.

Umar Akmal needs a spell out of the team. YK needs to retire, Sarfaraz is utter tripe and needs to go as well.

2nd defeat running we have made a trundler like perera look like malcolm marshall!

Ive seen some pakistan failures but this is the choke of chokes!

[I Believe in the Teesra]

Originally Posted by KingKhanWC Bottled it!.....Again. Apart from Malinga it's an average bowling attack. Once again they made an Indian type trundler in Perera into Shoaib Akhtar. Azhar Ali was the only man who held up. Time to clear out the cupboard of rusty old players who have no courage left and some who should never be part of limited overs cricket. Younis Khan, Afridi, Misbah, Sarfraz, Tanvir, Hafeez need to move on. This is not knee jerk, the knee is broken now. Pakistan needs a fresh start with youngsters, Azhar Ali for captain.

I disagree with the assessment about Misbah. You have to keep him. He played with a decent S/R and put the team in a winnable situation. Imagine if he wasn't there? All out for 100 gurantee right there. He's the only sensible batsmen we have in this team.

[PB]

Atleast Azhars average is now boosted! Averages 45!

[PakHammer]

That was horrible...I was watching most of the match & left it when Misbah got out. What a surrender after that..the game was there for the taking.

Surely Afridi and Hafeez cannot be in the same line up anymore. Replace one with a batsman, our batting is too weak to have two spinning all rounders.

Good series for likes of Malik, Kamran Akmal, Jamshed, Shahzed, Razzaq & Hammad to miss.

Got a feeling they will be back in the ODI team for the next series against the Aussies.

[farazaidi]

When Sanga and Mahela got going, I said to my brother its out of our reach already. Our batting just doesnt inspire any confidence. Too many batsmen struggling for form

YK needs to be dropped immediately and Afridi too after this series. Both of them add zero value to the team

[cricketfan86]

it iz time to bring abdul razzaq back now i am a big fan of umar akmal but he needs to be droped

[Asif321]

Next match should b brave selection

Drop Yk for Imran Farhat
Drop Umar Ak for Sami ........ finish this crap series

[DoosraTeesra]

In my opinion,

M. Hafeez
YK
Sarfaraz
Umar Akmal
Umer Gul

needs to be Dropped

[farazaidi]

why do we need to go back to tried and tested failures in Malik/Kami/Razzler?

Why dont give a proper chance to Hammad/Haris Sohail/Fawad Alam?

[khalil1986]

Originally Posted by farazaidi why do we need to go back to tried and tested failures in Malik/Kami/Razzler? Why dont give a proper chance to Hammad/Haris Sohail/Fawad Alam?

This.

Razzaq can't even cut it at domestic level anymore and the less said about the other two the better

[chui_kadoo]

No words can explain such utter dross. Bunch of cowboys. Heads need to roll. Our batting has become comical and we simply cant chase in any situation or on any track.

Younis Khan must retire tonight. I will be eagerly waiting for that announcment. Hafeez should bat at 9. Umar Gul should be dropped for 10 ODI games.

Hafeez has become a master of ducks

[farazaidi]

No way should Hafeez be batting higher than

[withlovefrom vizag]

how much greatest pakistani batsman, U Akmal scored??

[Asif321]

Haris sohail should get in place of umar ak
Hammad should also get in
I rather have shakeel ansar as keeper rather then sarfraz or kamran
afrdi shoulld say hes a bowler now

Yk never come back to ODI
Umar and sarfraz should b shown way of domestic circut
hafeez should also b warned

[cricketfan86]

I m a big fan of umar akmal but he needz to be droped n we need to bring back razzaq, hammad, shezad and jamshed and hafeez shoudnt open anymore he shud play at 6 or 7

[James]

Collapse of 8/30 is England territory!

You know things are bad when...

[cricketfan86]

Originally Posted by withlovefrom vizag how much greatest pakistani batsman, U Akmal scored??

the great umar akmal scored 0

[Ahson Afzal]

lets just hope we win the next game and draw this series 2-2

[SOSami]

I've always said there is no point in Pakistan playing an extra batsman, because that batsman is unlikely to be the difference between victory and losing.

Better off playing an extra pacer and trying to restrict the opposition by taking wickets.

Hafeez needs to bat 5. YK needs to retire. Umar Akmal needs to bat 4 or open. Misbah needs to bat lower down, so is forced to play with urgency. It's a real mess. Hammad is a better batsman than any of these lot, and he's hamstrung by being classed as an all-rounder. Umar Amin must be selected too. Sarfraz should bat 11 - at least that way we don't have to pretend he's a better batsman than Ajmal.

Viva Azhar Ali. Brilliant.

[freelance_cricketer]

What should one say? One can successfully predict the outcome of a Pak chase 9 out of 10 times at half time these days. This actually looked like one of the odd occasions when Pakistan chases a good score but even that didn't happen thanks to an embarrassing collapse. No sensationalism really, this is one poor batting line-up. No runs, no class whatsoever.

[chui_kadoo]

if we lose the toss again next game and they score 240+ then its series lost 3-1. We must win the toss

[chui_kadoo]

Azhar ali the only positive from the series

[WalkingWiggett]

Pathetic capitulation. I won't even call it a choke because choke implies throwing away an easy win, e.g. Saffers in a crunch game. No chase 200+ with Pak batting is ever easy.

So with you SOSami on - I knew he was class as soon as I watched him play that match-winning 92* in the 2010 Test vs England at the Oval (setting up the win by getting PAK to 308 in the first innings). Solid bat, decent technique, good temperament, probably mentally strong enough - matchwinner. Class. The new Pakistani Dravid?

[kirkut fan]

you have to blame wrong selection and batting order as much as performance. Why select younis khan if he is to come at 6 in a tight chase - he needs to retire and be replaced by an opener (shehzad, nasir or someone new (babar azam) ) so hafeez can drop to 3 where he is more suited he can take singles n also boundaries when needed.
Also as much as I like shafiq's attitude he is simply not good enough -not consistent n when he scores a 40-50 its too slow. He should be replaced by Hammad Azam who is a better batter (late order hitter and can also play a long knock)and also gives u the 6th bowler.

Sami also needs to replace gul or tanvir so we have a genuine wicket taking option

[insaaniyat]

Originally Posted by I Believe in the Teesra I disagree with the assessment about Misbah. You have to keep him. He played with a decent S/R and put the team in a winnable situation. Imagine if he wasn't there? All out for 100 gurantee right there. He's the only sensible batsmen we have in this team.

Agreed 100%. Why are we always agaisnt this man. He is the most sensible batsman and captain we have. We support Afridi who is nothing but a slogger. Why are we blaming him? When the other six batsmen went for zero that included the so called legend.

[SOSami]

Originally Posted by WalkingWiggett Pathetic capitulation. I won't even call it a choke because choke implies throwing away an easy win, e.g. Saffers in a crunch game. No chase 200+ with Pak batting is ever easy. So with you SOSami on - I knew he was class as soon as I watched him play that match-winning 92* in the 2010 Test vs England at the Oval (setting up the win by getting PAK to 308 in the first innings). Solid bat, decent technique, good temperament, probably mentally strong enough - matchwinner. Class. The new Pakistani Dravid?

If he manages to achieve even 70% of what Dravid did it'll be huge for Pakistan.

Azhar and Ajmal are the only guys who seems to enjoy playing cricket. The rest of them look like they are forced to be there.

[insaaniyat]

Originally Posted by cricketfan86 the great umar akmal scored 0

And the so called legend too

[KingKhanWC]

Originally Posted by insaaniyat Agreed 100%. Why are we always agaisnt this man. He is the most sensible batsman and captain we have. We support Afridi who is nothing but a slogger. Why are we blaming him? When the other six batsmen went for zero that included the so called legend.

He did o.k but again got in and threw it away. We need a fresh start, bringing in batsmen who are more suited to this format, get rid of those who aren't and this does include Misbah.

[kirkut fan]

Azhar ali will lose u a lot of matches if he doesn't have someone like umar akmal on the other end doing the bulk of the scoring

[The Muppets XI]

Glad I missed most of the game today. wth!

Good to see that Younis, Umars G & A, Afridi & for his batting Hafeez showed their class and justified why they are on Category A contracts.

Was there some kind of rush by the Pakistani middle order to finish the game early or something what was waiting for them in the changing room? - did they want to watch some football or did they have a better place to be??

Is Sami still injured - is that why he wasn't playing today?

So I guess that we are going to have to endure another recall for our ttf's.

[chui_kadoo]

In recent times since 2003 aparantly Yasir Hameed has been the best opener with an impressive average of 37-38 in ODI's. Can someone tell me why he was dropped?

[liaqat]

time to mike to call it a day, and sarfraz simply not good enough,
afridi did ws was expected but bowled well.

umar gul need to be replaces his been bad for a while now.

[cricketfan123]

must be dropped he is useless

[PB]

Originally Posted by chui_kadoo In recent times since 2003 aparantly Yasir Hameed has been the best opener with an impressive average of 37-38 in ODI's. Can someone tell me why he was dropped?

He knicked it too much while driving the ball.

[Nav_Sidd]

What I dont get is that if Malik and Razzak have been dropped than why isnt Hammad or Harris playing ??? We are playing with Yunus, Misbah, Asad, Azhar, and Hafeez who all fit the same bill as batsmen.

Tbh with Asad and Azhar playing well we could have dropped Yunus or Misbah but instead we have dropped all the aggressive batsmen in our squad...

[pakcricketfan]

Gutted.

Hafeez has been disappointing with the bat in this series.

Younis Khan MUST retire from the ODIs. (Been saying this since the Mohali semi-final).

Umar Gul was awful today. He's been poor at the death lately.

Sarfraz needs to pull up his socks and contribute with the bat now. Yes, he did bat well in the Asia Cup final, but he must do it more often or get dropped for someone better (if we have any, that is.)

And no, we don't need Kamran Akmal, Razzaq, Shoaib Malik, Imran Nazir, or any-other-tried-and-tested-failure back. Thank you.

[jalebi-lover]

Typically pakistani collapse, but even for pakistani standard it was horrible. Just as you guys mentioned SL didnt bowl well we made them look superb

Anyway I hope Dav learned something, and i would like to see the face of YK ONLY in test. In my opinion the following line-up would be world beaters

1.Ahmed Shezad
2.Azhar Ali
3.Umar Akmal(keeping)
4.Asad Shafiq/haris sohail
5.Misbah
6.Hafeez
7.Hammad Azam
8.Afridi
9. Mohammed Sami
10.Saaed Ajmal
11.Umer Gul/ Junaid Khan

[insaaniyat]

Originally Posted by jalebi-lover Typically pakistani collapse, but even for pakistani standard it was horrible. Just as you guys mentioned SL didnt bowl well we made them look superb Anyway I hope Dav learned something, and i would like to see the face of YK ONLY in test. In my opinion the following line-up would be world beaters 1.Ahmed Shezad 2.Azhar Ali 3.Umar Akmal(keeping) 4.Asad Shafiq/haris sohail 5.Misbah 6.Hafeez 7.Hammad Azam 8.Afridi 9. Mohammed Sami 10.Saaed Ajmal 11.Umer Gul/ Junaid Khan

We need to get rid of Afridi too

[chui_kadoo]

Originally Posted by PB He knicked it too much while driving the ball.

Average of 37 after 50 odd matches. Much much better than the current crop. Must have done well. You cant complain with that average.

[iHammad]

Some serious overreactions from the fans after this loss, we can still draw this series 2-2 on monday, and I expect our team to do just that.

Aizaz cheema or mohammad sami should come in for umar gul. That is the only change I expect on monday, otherwise they will play the same team. Umar akmal should bat at 3, Asad at 4, Misbah at 5, and YK at 6.

[nafaiz]

please dont bring in the tested failures except malik... i think he got his form back from the last t20.

hafeez and afridi cannot be in the same team as spinning allrounders who can score 25 once in 15 innnings...useless... yk has to retire he lost his batting he scored his last odi hundred on 2008.. find a good keeper or make umar akmal the keeper who can bat better than others... umar akmal such a overrrated batsmen....bring in new players who can make it to the 2015 worldcup

my team would be

1nasir
2azhar
3asad
4misbah/ [when he retires replace him with USMAN SALAHUDDIN]
5fawad alam/ umer amin / haris sohail (any young two left handers)
6malik [c]
7umar akmal [wk] [wen ur specialist keepers drop catches, can cultivate this guy as regular]
8hammad azam
9ajmal
10gul
11tanvir
12afridi
13babar azam
14sadaf hussain/rahat ali/junaid khan [one left armer]
15bilawal bhatti/zia ul haq/ehsan adil (one right arm fast)
16 afaq rahim

[amlafan79]

Originally Posted by kirkut fan Azhar ali will lose u a lot of matches if he doesn't have someone like umar akmal on the other end doing the bulk of the scoring

omg =)))))))))))
one must wonder who got out on duck and who stayed till end not out after reading this comment =))

[talma]

Is it just possible that Umar Akmal is underperforming until his brother Kamran is recalled back to the team? He's known to pull an odd prank or two to get his way. Maybe this is another subtle exercise.

[whyamir]

I have lost faith in Pakistan's ability to chase a total over 200 runs. They're so pathetic that it's embarrassing. I would really like to strangle younis khan with my hands, though. Very serious. This idiot should at least have the dignity to step down with the way he's been playing.

[amlafan79]

btw in match thread i think i said when sri lanka were at 198 tht these runs are enough
of by 1-2 runs

[Savak]

I will be honest/fair enough today to admit that today Misbah was not at fault with his batting. Disgraceful batting effort from the rest of the team, threw away a match in their hands. The ODI careers of a lot of players must be terminated. Players unsuitable for the format and players not performing need to be booted out.

[talha3]

Originally Posted by Savak I will be honest/fair enough today to admit that today Misbah was not at fault with his batting. Disgraceful batting effort from the rest of the team, threw away a match in their hands. The ODI careers of a lot of players must be terminated. Players unsuitable for the format and players not performing need to be booted out.

Who are you and what did you do with Savak?!

[UP]

What a mess

[observer1]

Pakistan have lost 15 of their last 18 run chases (above 240) in the last 3 years.

Further proof that Inzi and Yousuf carried the team for so long when they were there. Once they left, the team is a joke.

Where are the detractors now ?

[ads101]

Kick in the teeth today. Horrible performance.

Positives were Afridi bowled pretty good, hafeez and sohail tanvir well. Azhar and misbah batted well.

Rest was utter tripe unfortunately. Even ajmal wasn't that great with the ball.

Asad from what I saw looked promising. Really hope he kicks on, he really looks international standard but needs to make some big scores particularly under pressure.

Really impressed by Azhar's knock. Started a little low, but took responsibility with misbah and rotated the strike pretty well to get us within reach of victory until the collapse. Looked very mature and calm at the crease.

Worried by hafeez's continuing failures, it's not good. Most of the team (yet again) failed today, but it isn't an excuse. Think Azhar deserves the opening spot with jamshed now. Drop Hafeez down the order. Probably best to give him another chance opening in the last ODI (might as well) though.

I think this should be our ODI line up now after this series:
1. Jamshed
2. Azhar
3. Asad
4. Misbah
5. Umar akmal
6. Hafeez
7. Afridi
8. Sarfaz
9. Tanvir
10. Ajmal
11. Gul

[GujjarSher]

Almost wish there was some off the field controversy that we could blame this on. But there's simply no excuse, we just suck.

Need to completely revamp the batting line-up if this continues in the next two matches. Also, hate to say it but Gul just gets destroyed nowadays.

[spaceshot]

Originally Posted by iHammad Some serious overreactions from the fans after this loss, we can still draw this series 2-2 on monday, and I expect our team to do just that.

As long as fans like these are there, players like afridi neednt worry tbh.
A chance of bagging the series went begging and ihammad still is ice cool about it.



I saw the score at 162-2 and was like okay, this shd go in favor of pak. Then i checked the score when i got up and 199 all out. Seriously this wasnt expected..

And Younis shd have gotten a duck when it mattered

[srh]

Umar Gul is the weakest link in Pakistan's bowling lineup. Sami should replace him permanently in ODIs.

[pakistani pride]

Hafeez and akaml should be in the team, there batting positions need to be changed !

UA needs be @ 3
Hafeez needs to be @ 6 or 7.

We need an hard hitting opener with Azhar and younis needs to focus on test cricket.
Afridi is actually not needed, hafeez should bat at his position. its very clear but i dont get it why dont make these changed !!!

[Looney]

Who the hell sends at number 6 ? Either have him at 3 or 4 or just drop him .

[angrypathan]

The recent performances of Afridi do not justify his place in the team as an allrounder. The only problem is that, the day he gets dropped, half the nation takes to the streets and riots.

[cricketfan86]

Originally Posted by talma Is it just possible that Umar Akmal is underperforming until his brother Kamran is recalled back to the team? He's known to pull an odd prank or two to get his way. Maybe this is another subtle exercise.

i was also thinking that and if thats the reasomn then he shud be droped

[saeed-sohail]

I am just watching the highlights and have to say that was the worse I seen us bat in a game. YK walks down and then was in no position to run it to third man. Afridi threw the towel in as usual with a nothing shot and Sarfraz was giving catching practice.

[insaaniyat]

Originally Posted by angrypathan The recent performances of Afridi do not justify his place in the team as an allrounder. The only problem is that, the day he gets dropped, half the nation takes to the streets and riots.

Well said. It's tghe same half that roots for Zardari.

[B@$!T]

we need nasir jamshed and Ahmed shezad in this batting line up. I don't get why people blame misbah and azhar so what if they played a bit slow they did their job.. and I hope sami gets back in the team too we should replace gul with sami, guls lost his touch..

[Ryankhan]

This is just shameless. cant stand this team who every now and then are doing dirty tactics within the team. seems to be now they want misbah of the from the captaincy and that is why they played like this.... this has been happning in the past also and i think this series ends YK consistent place in the team. he is my fav batsmen but he has become crap to be honest. its also time to move hafeez back to low order. he is not good playing against the new ball.
sarfaraz cant keep his place if he cant bat. some serious changes has to be made.

please change misbah as the captain
get khalid latif-ahmed shehzaad-nasir jamshed-fawad alam back into the team.

bowling seems to be fine but fielding is getting worse n worse.

they lost the series and the way they lost it thats just disgusting and hats of to SRILANKA. Since MAHELA has taken over the captaincy again, the tigers has really woken up and its good to see. great team effort by lankans.

[DHONI183]

Just a question, does Mohammad Hafeez deserve to be called an 'all-rounder' purely based upon his bowling?

Hold on to your guns about Misbah-ul-Haq. What sin did he commit in this match? That, that he got Pakistan in a position to win comfortably?

Umar Akmal,...... I cannot believe what people continue to talk about his 'talent'. Forgot about talent, he hardly justifies the right to play international cricket. I was one of his fans till about two years back, but he has been a big disappointment.

[waqar goraya]

Originally Posted by pakcricketfan Gutted. Hafeez has been disappointing with the bat in this series. Younis Khan MUST retire from the ODIs. (Been saying this since the Mohali semi-final). Umar Gul was awful today. He's been poor at the death lately. Sarfraz needs to pull up his socks and contribute with the bat now. Yes, he did bat well in the Asia Cup final, but he must do it more often or get dropped for someone better (if we have any, that is.) And no, we don't need Kamran Akmal, Razzaq, Shoaib Malik, Imran Nazir, or any-other-tried-and-tested-failure back. Thank you.

this one is the most unbiased and non emotional analysis...

i just get the feeling that players who are capable just play to cement their place

keep umar gul out foe one game he will come back with a bang

similarly akmal would play a good inning and then two or three poor performances
same is the case with our most players

every thing they care is cash and don't feel pride playing for pakistan

[kirkut fan]

Originally Posted by amlafan79 omg =))))))))))) one must wonder who got out on duck and who stayed till end not out after reading this comment =))

what I meant was someone who is naturally aggressive and can take risks if needed at the right time in the right way.
Even in this particular match you saw azhar going for wild shots which he isn't good at - my point is he was feeling the pressure because misbah was not going for the big shots he felt the need to do it himself
even you'll admit that 81 off 126 and 96 off 129 aren't scores off natural odi players it's a Jon trott kind of scenario

[MenInG]

Lets see what they today

[freelance_cricketer]

Been a much better batting effort today. Good start always helps