Thisara proves a point
Sri Lanka led by that mercurial allrounder Thisara Perera completely destroyed Pakistan in the deciding third ODI to take the series 2-1 with an emphatic seven wicket win at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium yesterday.
Allrounder Thisara Perera celebrating the fall of one of his four victims - Pix by Amila Gamage
Though the match was expected to be a closely contested encounter the marauding Lankans had other ideas. First the gamble on bring in medium pacer Dhammika Prasad paid rich dividends. Where Nuwan Kulasekera had failed in the first two games, Prasad held his hand up by driving in the first two nails igniting the Pakistan slide. Thereafter it was the turn of Thisara Perera to prove the point as to why he should be a pivotal member in the Lankan line up.
Yet, one keeps wondering how the game turned out to be a one sided affair as Pakistan went down meekly without any resistance due to the pathetic batting display put in by their batsmen.
Pakistan’s spinner Saeed Ajmal’s return to the side, having missed the first ODI’s after being reported for his bowling action, did not make any difference due to the poor effort by their batsmen.
Sri Lanka chasing a simple target of just 103 runs in 48 overs was off to a flying start with openers Upul Tharanga and T.M. Dilshan putting on 46 runs in no time. Kumar Sangakkara’s rare failure continued as he was unlucky for the third time, lasting only five balls as Sri Lanka lost his wicket with the score on 59.
Dilshan joined by Mahela Jayawardena made steady progress as the Sri Lankan pair added 41 runs for the third wicket before Jayawardena was dismissed with Sri Lanka needing four runs for victory.
Dilshan who came back to form after a few hiccups fittingly finished off the match as he cracked a boundary off Shahid Afridi which also saw him reaching his half ton which was the 38th of his ODI career enabling Sri Lanka reach the target in just 18.2 overs.
What a disappointment it turned to be for the jam packed crowd that thronged the Stadium expecting to witness a blockbuster as the Pakistan batting went into the doldrums with wickets falling like nine pins.
Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq winning the toss for the first time in the ODI series opted to bat expecting the side to hand over Sri Lanka a challenging target.
Right arm pacie Dhammika Prasad replacing the out of form Nuwan Kulasekera dealt the first blow for Pakistan with the inning just 15 balls old as he dismissed left hander Sharjeel Khan who edged a catch in the second slip to the waiting hands of Mahela Jayawardena.
Shehzad Ahmed too seemed to be uncomfortable as he was struggling to negotiate the tight bowling by Sri Lanka. Though he cracked a boundary off a Lasith Malinga delivery that was all he could achieve as he became the second victim of Prasad offering a catch to Thisara Perera at mid on.
Mohammad Hafeez too seemed to be uncomfortable as he was able to make just one run in his 16 ball innings when he was dismissed lbw by Malinga even though it was reviewed. This saw Pakistan in dire straits with three down for 14 runs in only the eighth over.
It was left to skipper Misbah-ul-Haq along with first ODI hero Fawad Alam to get the side out of the rout but with the Sri Lanka being on top it was no doubt going to be a daunting task.
With the Lankans tightening the grip and mounting pressure, Pakistan batsmen found runs too hard to get as the first ten overs saw them scoring only 19 runs. In the eleventh over of the innings, which was Prasad’s sixth, Alam cracked a boundary followed by skipper Haq slamming two successive boundaries.
But four overs later Haq got himself out trying to sneak a single but failed to beat Dilshan’s throw from backward point as Pakistan slid to 47 for 4 in the 16th over. Added to Pakistan’s misery the 17th over saw Thisara Perera bowling a maiden over.
The Pakistan 50 came with a Umar Akmal six off Perera, but the Lankan fast bowler had the last laugh by taking the Akmal wicket with a calculated bouncer which the batsman mistimed. Pakistan were now struggling at 55 for 5 in the 19th over.
Pakistan’s first heroes Alam and Sohaib Maqsood put on a brief stand of 18 runs, under the circumstances this also looked big. But, Maqsood parted with wicket keeper Kumar Sangakkara taking a superb diving catch off Perera.
Shahid Afridi following next was unable to make any substantial contribution as he lasted only four balls for a personal score of just two runs which saw Pakistan further sliding to 76 for 7.
At the halfway stage of the innings Pakistan was perilously placed on 80 for 8. When Pakistan was on 81 for 8 in the 26th over a shower that followed saw the match being delayed for nearly 45 minutes and on resumption it was reduced to a 48 over game. On resumption the late order batting had little to offer as they lasted only another 6.1 overs being bundled out for 102 in 32.1 overs. Second ODI man of the match Thisara Perera was successful again as he ended up with impressive figures of 4 for 34 in the eight overs he bowled and went on to take the man of the match award for the second successive time.
The Rangiri Dambulla Stadium has been a happy hunting ground for Sri Lanka who have an impressive winning record. When they came into this game Sri Lanka had won 24 of the 35 matches played in Dambulla whilst losing nine. The win saw them chalking up their 25th win in this Stadium.
| Scoreboard
PAKISTAN innings (50 overs maximum) Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Sharjeel Khan, 2.3 ov), 2-14 (Ahmed Shehzad, 6.4 ov), 3-14 (Mohammad Hafeez, 7.3 ov), 4-47 (Misbah-ul-Haq, 15.5 ov), 5-55 (Umar Akmal, 18.2 ov), 6-73 (Sohaib Maqsood, 22.4 ov), 7-76 (Shahid Afridi, 23.5 ov), 8-77 (Wahab Riaz, 24.2 ov), 9-88 (Saeed Ajmal, 28.2 ov), 10-102 (Mohammad Irfan, 32.1 ov) Bowling: Dhammika Prasad 6-0-25-2 (1nb, 3w), Lasith Malinga 7-2-17-1(1w), Angelo Mathews 5-0-11-0, Rangana Herath 2.1-0-6-1, Thisara Perera 8-1-34-4(2w), Sekkuge Prasanna 4-1-8-1 SRI LANKA innings (target: 101 runs from 48 overs) Did not bat: S Prasanna, SMA Priyanjan, NLTC Perera, KTGD Prasad, HMRKB Herath, SL Malinga |