pakistan win by 11

pakistan win by 11

Sri Lanka v Pakistan, World Cup 2011, Group A, Colombo

Afridi stars as Pakistan take control

Misbah-ul-Haq

Shahid Afridi

Anyone out there who still thinks Pakistan are not dangerous contenders for the World Cup? With tremendous poise and skill in the middle overs, Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan propelled Pakistan, who were on a tricky 105 for 2 in the 21st over, to a strong 277, before Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akthar produced bits of magic to derail the chase. Chamara Silva threatened to pull off a thrilling heist with a flurry of boundaries, and Nuwan Kulasekara made one heroic last-ditch effort to reduce the equation to 18 runs from the final over. Umar Gul, however, held his nerve to steer Pakistan home and end a mesmeric exhibition of high-quality cricket in Colombo

Pakistan's innings had everything: rapid start, brain fade, tranquil middle overs, fabulous end-over bowling from Muttiah Muralitharan, who gave only five runs from two batting Powerplay overs, and finally a Misbah blitz, with 32 runs flowing from the final three overs, which eventually made the difference.

The chase too nearly had it all: two inspired moments bursting with imagination and skill from Shoaib and Afridi, two failed stumpings, a dropped catch and a late surge from Silva, who woke up too late after a painstaking start.

In the 21st over, Shoaib produced a crafty offcutter, slightly slower and darting in from outside off, to breach the defences of Mahela Jayawardene and leave Sri Lanka stuttering at 95 for 3. In the next, Afridi, who had earlier removed Tillakaratne Dilshan with a skidding delivery, ripped a loopy leg break that dipped rapidly on Thilan Samaraweera, who was sucked out of his crease and left stranded as Kamran Akmal effected a smart stumping. Akmal later missed two leg-side stumping chances to let off Kumar Sangakkara, on 22 and 33, off Abdur Rehman. The first one kicked more than Akmal anticipated and he had no excuse for the second. Rehman, himself, dropped a sitter to reprieve Silva. However, the twin blows had left Sangakkara with too much to do, especially with Silva struggling to get started, and he fell by holing out to long-on. Silva then stirred from his slumber to reduce the equation from 88 from 47 balls to 46 from 24. He slog swept Rehman for two fours and pulled Gul and Shoaib for more boundaries before he was stumped. Kulasekara took over the baton, whipping a 14-ball 24 but the task proved beyond him.

It was the batting that set up the game for Pakistan, as the Premadasa has always been cruel to the team batting second. Pakistan's innings stood out for its handling of the middle overs. Serenity blew across the ground after the fall of Kamran. Mohammad Hafeez had run himself out after a moment of madness and Kamran, who inexplicably withdrew into his shell after that mix-up, soon combusted, going for an ugly slog against Pakistan's bogeyman Rangana Herath. It wasn't quite a crisis but it definitely needed calm heads. Luckily for Pakistan, you can't find better men than Misbah and Younis to handle these moments. What followed was a perfect advertisement for the much-abused middle overs in an ODI.

Two of the oldest members of the side ran beautifully, worked the angles intelligently, pinged the gaps frequently with the nudge-drive-and-sweep routine, and breathed life into an innings that could have, perhaps otherwise, succumbed to adrenalin rushes. If Misbah pressed back to play Murali, Younis leaned forward to tackle him; if Misbah backed to leg to create room, Younis shuffled to off to work to the leg; if Misbah tapped wide of midwicket for the quick single, Younis nudged just wide of backward point; if Misbah deployed the reverse-sweep, Younis stayed conventional. They always ran well. The runs kept ticking over, the opposition grew increasingly restless, and Pakistan secured ownership of the innings.

What further spiced up this partnership was the knowledge that the powerful lower order was waiting in the dressing room. When Younis fell in the 41st over, with Pakistan on 213 for 4, it even seemed like good news for Pakistan - Afridi and co to follow, unleash violence and 300 would be a formality. Or so it seemed. Here is where Sri Lanka sparkled. Here is when that man Murali and Kulasekara stepped in to do damage control.

While Pakistan's handling of middle overs was a treat to watch, Sri Lanka's skill in the end overs was awe-inspiring. Murali ripped his offbreaks, altering the trajectory, pace, and the extent of turn. Kulasekara punctuated his yorkers with slower cutters to keep Pakistan in check. Murali gave only two runs in the 44th over, the first of the batting Powerplay, and only three in the 46th, which included the wicket of Umar Akmal. Kulasekera gave away just five in the 47th, keeping Afridi quiet with a series of yorkers.

Misbah responded to Murali's magic by growing more innovative. He shuffled to the off and whipped Thisara Perera and Angelo Mathews for boundaries as Pakistan collected 32 runs in the last three overs to post a match-winning total. Misbah and Younis' presence in the middle overs had raised a few murmurs before this World Cup but there would be only voices of appreciation after tonight.

pakistan win by 11

Sri Lanka v Pakistan, World Cup 2011, Group A, Colombo

Afridi stars as Pakistan take control

pakistan set 277

Sri Lanka v Pakistan, World Cup 2011, Group A, Colombo

Misbah guides Pakistan to 277

Misbah-ul-Haq top scored

The World Cup came alive with a mesmeric exhibition of high-quality cricket from Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq propelled Pakistan, who were on a tricky 105 for 2 in the 21st over, with superb poise and skill in the middle overs, before Muttiah Muralitharan pulled them back in the end to leave the game fascinatingly poised. This innings had everything: rapid start, brain fade, tranquil middle overs and finally fabulous end-over bowling. Shahid Afridi said at the toss that he would be happy with 280 and Kumar Sangakkara said he would be happy to chase that total.

Pakistan's innings stood out for its handling of the middle overs. Serenity blew across the ground after the fall of Kamran Akmal. Mohammad Hafeez had run himself out after a moment of madness and Kamran, who inexplicably withdrew into his shell after that mix-up, soon combusted, going for an ugly slog against Pakistan's bogeyman Rangana Herath to leave Pakistan in a tricky spot. It wasn't quite a crisis situation but it definitely needed calm heads. Luckily for Pakistan, you can't find better men than Misbah and Younis to handle these moments. What followed was a perfect advertisement for the much-abused middle overs in an ODI.

Two of the oldest members of the side ran beautifully, worked the angles intelligently, pinged the gaps frequently with the nudge-drive-and-sweep routine, and breathed life into an innings that could have, perhaps otherwise, succumbed to adrenalin rushes. If Misbah pressed back to play Murali, Younis leaned forward to tackle him; If Misbah backed to leg to create room, Younis shuffled to off to work to the leg; if Misbah tapped wide of midwicket for the quick single, Younis nudged just wide of backward point; if Misbah deployed the reverse-sweep, Younis stayed conventional. They always ran well; the runs kept ticking over, the opposition grew increasingly restless, and Pakistan secured ownership of the innings.

What further spiced up this partnership was the knowledge that the imperious lower order were waiting in the dressing room. When Younis fell in the 41st over, with Pakistan on 213 for 4, it even seemed like good news for Pakistan - Shahid Afridi and co to follow, unleash violence and 300 would be a formality. Or so it seemed. Here is where Sri Lanka sparkled. Here is when that man Murali and the doughty Nuwan Kulasekara stepped in to do damage control.

If Pakistan's handling of middle overs was a treat to watch, Sri Lanka's skill in the end overs was awe-inspiring. Murali ripped his off breaks, altering the trajectory, pace, and the extent of turn, and Kulasekara punctuated his yorkers with slower cutters to keep Pakistan in check. Murali gave just two runs in the 44th over, the first of the batting Powerplay, and only three, including the wicket of Umar Akmal in 46th and Kulasekera gave away just five in the 47th, keeping Afridi quiet with a series of yorkers.

Misbah responded to Murali's magic by growing more innovative. He shuffled to the off and whipped Thisara Perera and Angelo Mathews for boundaries as Pakistan collected 32 runs in the last three overs. Only time will tell whether the total will be enough.

Sriram Veera is a staff writer at ESPNcricinfo

huge start by pakistan

huge start by pakistan

Sri Lanka v Pakistan, World Cup 2011, Group A, Colombo

No Malinga, Herath in, Pakistan bat

Sri Lanka struck back with two wickets
 after Pakistan made a steady start in Colombo
 © AFP

On a slow track, expected to aid turn as the game progresses, Shahid Afridi chose to bat in a big encounter against Sri Lanka.

Pakistan went in with an unchanged team and Afridi said he would be happy with a score of 270-280. For his part, Kumar Sangakkara said he would be happy chasing 270-280.

Sri Lanka didn't take any risk with Lasith Malinga and made two further changes from the team that thrashed Canada. Chamara Silva came in for Chamara Kapugedera and left-arm spinner Rangana Herath replaced Ajantha Mendis.

Sri Lanka: 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt & wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Chamara Silva, 6 Thilan Samaraweera, 7 Angelo Mathews, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Rangana Herath, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan

Pakistan: 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Kamran Akmal (wk), 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Shahid Afridi (capt), 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Abdur Rehman, 11 Shoaib Akhtar

Sriram Veera is a staff writer at ESPNcricinfo

Sri Lanka v Pakistan

Sri Lanka v Pakistan, Group A, World Cup 2011, Colombo

Familiar rivals line up in big contest

Misbah-ul-Haq

There must be a certain comfort for Pakistan in taking on Sri Lanka. This has nothing to do with who is the better side, but on the grounds of familiarity alone. In the last five years, when Pakistan haven't known anything about their future on and off the field, they've always known that soon, they'll be playing against Sri Lanka.

When looking to introduce a new captain, they look to Sri Lanka, as they did with Shoaib Malik and a three-ODI series in Abu Dhabi just after the last World Cup. In the interests of symmetry they even ended Malik's captaincy two years later just after he had lost another three-match series against them. The first international Pakistan played after the Oval Test forfeit and the positive dope tests of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif was against Sri Lanka. The most joyous occasions, such as the World Twenty20 win have involved Sri Lanka. The saddest, the Lahore attacks just before, have also regrettably involved them.

No country has played more against Pakistan in the last five years across all three formats than Sri Lanka (30 games). In a recent board-to-board interchange, both chairmen referred to the other in "brotherly" terms. It was a pointless exchange about Sri Lanka's scheduled series against Pakistan in October this year and the remote possibility of it being played in Pakistan. But if and when international cricket does return, it can be easily imagined that Sri Lanka will be the first visitors.

In many ways, the rivalry has been a balm, a soothing one, for Pakistan.

Lately, quietly slipping in under the radar of traditional duels, it has become an intense one. In the vernacular, you might even say it has acquired kaanta, or needle. In 17 ODIs since January 2006, the sides have won eight games each. None of the games have been particularly close but as a whole, contests have been competitive and carried meaningful sub-plots.

"I think Pakistan is a great side, they've got great balance, they've got match winning cricketers, not just one but quite a lot of them, so any opposition is wary of them," Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka's captain, said. "We are not going to take anything lightly or for granted, we are just going to go out there and do the best what we can."

Sangakkara, who contributed to the needle with a much-remembered slanging match with Younis Khan in 2009, speaks from a position of equality, if not outright control. The equality is a modern attribute, since Sri Lanka's rise from 1996. Pakistan may well have won six out of six World Cup encounters before Saturday, but - and this is remarkable - they haven't come across each other since 1992.

The stat means nothing. Altogether more relevant is the run-in: Sri Lanka have won six of the last eight.

Familiarity, in fact, may be the winning and losing of it. Pakistan, over the years, have learnt not to give wickets to Muttiah Muralitharan; he's taken 95 in 64 ODIs, but they rarely crumble to him. Even then, Waqar Younis' bullish assessment, that Muralitharan "isn't 28 anymore" and that the going may not be easy for him, tempts fate. Similarly, Lasith Malinga, not a certainty, has not been as difficult to fathom as others have found.

And arguably, they were the first country to decode Ajantha Mendis.

"We've played a lot of cricket against them and understand each other's games well," Misbah-ul-Haq said. "Both Muralitharan and Malinga are world class. But we've played them quite a lot, and players understand their strengths. Simple plan: play them on merit."

Instead, it is men such as Nuwan Kulusekera or even Rangana Herath if he plays, the more orthodox if you will, of Sri Lanka's stars who have troubled Pakistan consistently. If Pakistan can shed their caution and attach another specialist bowler, their attack will be deceptively incisive. Regardless, we are assured of the presence of a vast, varied cast of match-winners on the field tomorrow, any of them capable of changing a game in a blink.

For the World Cup, the R Premadasa has taken on a new visage. A day before the game, and empty, it still looked faintly intimidating, even threatening. The stands are new and high. The game is sold-out. The city is feeling it now, building up to it. The weekend is here. Both teams are wound up, ready to be let at each other. It will be some atmosphere, a true theatre for what will be - hopefully, given the lack of them so far - a true contest.

Osman Samiuddin is Pakistan editor of ESPNcricinfo