A disappointing end for Pakistan to what has been an enthralling tournament. Sri Lanka were deserved winners having won every match they played and it was almost impossible for Pakistan to get back into the game after Malinga's early burst which had the top three back in the pavilion for next to nothing. Fawad, Misbah and Umar Akmal were outstanding in their attempt to get a reasonable score on the board, but on that wicket it was probably always under-par.

Pakistan's bowling and fielding was disappointing given the high profile nature of the game, with several lapses which made the run chase fairly comfortable for Sri Lanka. Saeed Ajmal was outstanding but he needed more support from the rest as Sri Lanka sealed a well deserved title.

By PakPassion Staff (8th March, 2014)

Toss: Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat.

Teams:

Pakistan: 1. Sharjeel Khan, 2. Ahmed Shehzad, 3. Mohammad Hafeez, 4. Misbah-ul-Haq(c), 5. Fawad Alam, 6. Umar Akmal(wk), 7. Shahid Afridi, 8. Mohammad Talha, 9. Umar Gul, 10.Saeed Ajmal, 11. Junaid Khan

Sri Lanka: 1. Kusal Perera, 2. Lahiru Thirimanne, 3. Kumar Sangakkara(wk), 4. Mahela Jayewardene, 5. Ashan Priyanjan, 6. Angelo Mathews(c), 7. Chaturanga de Silva 8. Thisara Perera, 9. Sachitra Senanayake, 10. Lasith Malinga, 11. Suranga Lakmal

Captain Misbah-ul-Haq decided to bat first at Dhaka and he may well have been ruing the decision five overs into proceedings as his side slumped to 18/3, as Malinga found some outswing to reek havoc with the Pakistani top order.

Sharjeel (8) collected two boundaries off the first three balls of the innings, but characteristically threw away another promising starts has he lasted just six balls, flicking the final ball of the first over to mid-on. Sri Lanka had clearly studied their opponents and Lakmal and Malinga dished up a number of outswingers to Shehzad and Hafeez. Neither had any answer, with Shehzad (5) pushing away from his body and edging behind and Hafeez (3) followed soon after in similar fashion.

This brought Misbah-ul-Haq and Fawad Alam to the crease with the score on 18/3 and the two went about rebuilding the Pakistan innings. It was slow going early on as they reached 28 off the first 10 powerplay overs and continued to be so over the next twenty overs, reaching 96/3 in the 30th over.

Misbah brought up Pakistan’s 100 with a sweep shot for four, and his second sweep shot of the over brought up his 50 off 78 balls. Despite a few well-timed shots, Fawad was struggling at the other end and he slashed at one outside off stump in the 33rd over against Lakmal and wicket-keeper Sangakarra dived to his left but couldn’t cling on after getting a glove to it. However, Perera was brought back into the attack and the left-hander looked a lot more comfortable, slamming him for six over long-off and completing his half-century off 91 balls.

However despite some attacking intent, Misbah collected just one run off a yorker-laden 36th over bowled by Lakmal and the Captain departed soon after for 65(98), trying to loft a Malinga delivery straight over the bowler’s head, only to be caught in the deep.

Umar Akmal’s introduction in the 37th over reinvigorated the Pakistan innings, and he and Fawad Alam set about trying to increase the run rate. They combined boundaries with some aggressive running between the wickets. Akmal blasted two fours in the 40th over by Perera and Fawad followed up with a four and a six in the 42nd, bowled by Lakmal. Akmal went one better against Malinga in the 47th over, collecting three fours, including two through midwicket.

Alam brought up his century with a six in 48th over, with a six, having played a vital knock and Umar Akmal followed with a 35-ball half-century in the same over. Despite the plethora of boundaries in the 115-run partnership, which was scored in just 13 overs at a run rate of almost nine, the most impressive aspect of the runs scored was the running between the wickets. The two scored runs off 41 balls in a row, and missed and failed to score of only one ball in the last nine overs, that being the wicket of Umar Akmal in the final over.

The batsmen scored a single or two off overs 42,43,44 and 45 showing a high run rate can be maintained despite the bowlers producing yorker after yorker, as Pakistan scored 101 runs in the last 10 overs to reach 260/5.

For Sri Lanka, despite some tight bowling by Angelo Mathews (7 overs, 1 maiden, 23 runs) and Lakmal (10 overs, 41 runs) it was all Malinga who picked up all of the five wickets to fall and ending up with 5/56, this after he picked up 5/52 as Sri Lanka beat Pakistan in the group game earlier in the tournament.


Fall Of Wickets
1-8 Sharjeel Khan, 0.6 overs,
2-17 Ahmed Shehzad, 2.6 overs,
3-18 Mohammad Hafeez, 4.3 overs.
4-140 Misbah-ul-Haq, 36.4 overs,
5-255 Umar Akmal, 49.4 overs.

Sri Lanka's reply got off to the perfect start as Perera picked up boundaries off both the opening bowlers, Gul and Hafeez. Gul was particularly expensive, taken off by Misbah after bowling 3 overs for 24 as Sri Lanka raced to 44/0 off 9 overs. Pakistan thought they had the first wicket when Perera pulled Junaid to the boundary at deep mid-wicket where Sharjeel took the catch, but then stood on the rope handing six runs to the Sri Lankans.

In the following over Saeed Ajmal ensured that Perera didn't cash on in his lifeline, enticing the batsman down the pitch to one that turned and Umar Akmal did the rest behind the stumps. It brought Kumar Sangakarra to the crease who had been in impressive form in the tournament so far, but today wasn't his day. Ajmal's first ball was a doosra that came in to the left-hander, past the inside edge and on to the pad. The umpire upheld the appeal and Ajmal had two wickets in two balls. It was so nearly a hattrick as another doosra went past Jayawardene's outside edge but struck the batsman just outside the line of off-stump.

After that it was one way traffic as a combination of sensible batting, inconsistent bowling and indifferent fielding allowed Sri Lanka to coast towards their target. The 50 partnership between the pair came up in the 21st over, just before some shoddy fielding from Gul which gifted Sri Lanka a boundary and suggested that Pakistan were beginning to get frustrated. Thirimanne reached his own 50 as Pakistan continued to leak runs. At the halfway stage, Sri Lanka needed 116 runs with 8 wickets still in tact.

More pain was to follow for Pakistan when a diving Mohammad Hafeez couldn't quite grab on to a steepling catch at deep mid-wicket, just after Jayawardene had got to 50 himself off 76 balls. Jayawardene then went on the attack, hitting two consecutive boundaries off Talha before sweeping Ajmal for 4. With Sri Lanka needing under 50 to win, Jayawardene went for a swipe across the line off Talha and the skier was taken by Sharjeel Khan. With 10 overs to go, Sri Lanka needed just 37 to win.

Junaid had Priyanjan caught behind as Sri Lanka closed in on the target but Thirimanne ploughed on and reached an excellent century in the 44th over but was dismissed almost immediately after, with 14 needed for victory. Another doosra from Ajmal wasn't read, and the ball sneaked between bat and pad to hit the stumps. Mathews and De Silva were able to score the remaining runs as Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets.

Fall Of Wickets

1-56 MDKJ Perera, 10.1 overs,
2-56 Sangakkara, 10.2 overs
3-212 Jayawardene, 37.2 overs,
4-233 Priyanjan, 41.4 overs,
5-247 Thirimanne, 44.1 overs

 

A disappointing end for Pakistan to what has been an enthralling tournament. Sri Lanka were deserved winners having won every match they played and it was almost impossible for Pakistan to get back into the game after Malinga's early burst which had the top three back in the pavilion for next to nothing. Fawad, Misbah and Umar Akmal were outstanding in their attempt to get a reasonable score on the board, but on that wicket it was probably always under-par.

Pakistan's bowling and fielding was disappointing given the high profile nature of the game, with several lapses which made the run chase fairly comfortable for Sri Lanka. Saeed Ajmal was outstanding but he needed more support from the rest as Sri Lanka sealed a well deserved title.

DIscuss!