Pakistan wrap up one-day series

Bernard Perera in Abu Dhabi

CRICKET: Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka in the second ODI by 98 runs to win the Warid Cricket Series here in Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed stadium on Sunday.

This win was a morale booster for the Pakistanis after their exit from the World Cup preliminary stage and also for newly appointed captain Shoaib Malik along with him new set of players.

On the other hand Sri Lanka the runners-up at the recently concluded World Cup never showed any signs of proving a top-ranked team in all departments of the game and moved down to the fifth slot in the world ODI rankings, while Pakistan managed to remain at the same slot.

Sri Lanka chasing a big score of 313 for victory never showed any signs of going for their target from the very first ball, and were bowled out for 215 in 39.5 overs. Chamara Kapugedera who replaced Jayasuriya, opened with Upul Tharanga to put on a 37-run partnership in only 5.1 overs. But the one drop batsman and debutant Malinda Warnapura could not stay for long and was dismissed for only 5 runs.

Mahela Jayawardena and Tharanga alliance was the best partnership for Lankans. They produced 64 runs between them and this was also the best partnership for them.

After the fall of Tharanga with the scoreboard reading 113 for 2, Chamara Silva with Mahela put on 40 runs, but the asking rate rose up steadily from there onwards. The departure of Chamara saw the Lankans drop back further with wickets falling at regular intervals.

Maharoof who came up with a fine knock in the first game, too, failed to deliver. It was only Mahela and Tharanga that showed some sort of resistance to Pakistan bowling with scores of 61 and 48 respectively. With Mahela's return to the pavilion the others never came up with a good batting display to at least to face the allotted 50 overs and folded up for 215 in 39.5 overs.

Mahela Jayawardena speaking after the match admitted they made a lot of mistakes. None of the batsmen could build up the much wanted partnerships. What we needed was few good partnerships when chasing big scores. Even our bowlers at the early stages could not perform well and gave many runs.

Mahela continuing said, "We have to be consistent. It was disappointing to lose like this after a fine performance in the West Indies. It is true that some of the senior guys are not on duty for us. But we are here as a Sri Lanka team. We cannot give excuses to clear ourselves from defeats. Our boys made many mistakes.

Pakistanis led by Shoaib Malik played good cricket from the beginning. They deserve full credit. The Lankans have to think of the future World Cup four years later. The team cannot go out with players who have served for many years. That was the reason why we brought in new blood. They will have to prove themselves if they are to remain in their positions.

Mahela answering a question posed by the media, said they rested Jayasuriya considering his seniority and the management thought it fit to keep him off as the heat conditions (43 degrees) could trouble him by continuing to play minus a rest.

"That was the reason why we wanted Malinda to play in this game. Lasith Malinga and Ishara Amarasinghe too were left out with the hope of giving more exposure to others who have come on this tour. If we don't expose them to international level at a time like this we will not be able to think of the future Sri Lanka cricket," said Mahela.

The day before it was highly notable that not even half of the team members were seen at the practice session.

This is a sad case and the management must take notice of these happenings. Cricketers from Sri Lanka have come here on duty towards their country. They are duty bound to attend every practice session except for reasons beyond control of both parties. If this trend continues the team is sure to slump further.

Abu Dhabi, Monday

PAKISTAN
Salman Butt c & b Bandara 		 74
Imran Nazir b Fernando 			 17
Yasir Hameed c & b Bandara 		 50
Mohammad Yousuf run out  		  3
Shoaib Malik b Bandara 			 27
Kamran Akmal c Dilshan b Maharoof 	 38
Shahid Afridi c Bandara b Maharoof 	  1
Abdul Razzaq b Fernando 		 16
Mohammad Sami b Maharoof 		 22
Umar Gul not out 			  0
Mohammad Asif not out 			  5
Extras: (5lb, 17w, 4nb) 		 26
TOTAL: (for 9 wkts, 50 overs) 		313

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-43, 2-143, 3-147, 4-207, 5-233, 
6-237, 7-277, 8-308, 9-308.
BOWLING: Perera 10-2-67-0 (1nb, 4w), Fernando 10-0-71-2 (1nb, 3w), 
Maharoof 10-0-65-3 (1nb), Bandara 10-0-56-0 (1nb), Dilshan 10-0-50-0 (1w).
              
SRI LANKA
Upul Tharanga c Nazir b Afridi 		 48
Chamara Kapugedera b Sami 		 20
Malinda Warnapura lbw Asif 		  5
Mahela Jayawardene b Asif 		 61
Chamara Silva c Razzaq b Afridi 	 21
Tillekeratne Dilshan b Malik 		 10
Prasanna Jayawardene lbw Afridi 	  1
Farveez Maharoof c Butt b Sami 		 17
Malinga Bandara c Hameed b Gul 		 11
Dilhara Fernando not out 		  2
Ruchira Perera b Gul 			  0
Extras: (1b, 7lb, 5w, 6nb) 	 	 19
TOTAL: (all out, 39.5 overs) 		215

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-37, 2-49, 3-113, 4-153, 5-172, 
6-176, 7-188, 8-208, 9-215.
BOWLING: Asif 10-0-59-2 (1nb, 2w), Sami 6-1-27-2 (1nb),
Gul 3.5-0-38-2 (2nb), Malik 10-0-46-1 (2nb, 3w), Afridi 10-0-37-3.