Do or die situation for Pakistan team

It will be a do or die situation for the touring Pakistan team when they take on Sri Lanka in the two remaining games of the five-match one day international series.

The two flood-lit games to be played at the Premadasa International Stadium, Colombo tomorrow and on Sunday will give the last chance for Pakistan to regain their lost prestige. The Pakistan team is under immense pressure back home and if they could secure back to back wins in the two day-night games, they could end their series against Sri Lanka on a winning note.

However, the series has already been decided after Sri Lanka's majestic win over the tourists in the third match.

Sri Lanka takes a winning 3-0 lead in the five-match series but Kumar Sangakkara and his men would not take any chances as they target to make it a clean 5-0 whitewash.

Winning the first three matches in-a-row at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium has given tremendous confidence to the Lankan team and the selectors would experiment with youngsters in the two remaining games.

When Pakistan posted a commanding 288 for 8 in 50 overs after they were put in to bat in the third one day international, it appeared as if Pakistan would well emerge victorious. There were plenty of reason's to believe so as Pakistan accounted for the highest total ever in Dambulla after the low-scoring first two games.

But Pakistan's joy was short lived as Sri Lanka successfully tried out a new opening batting combination of former skipper Mahela Jayawardene and young Upul Tharanga. The pair frustrated Pakistani bowlers for 33.3 overs before the tourists found a breakthrough. But by then, Sri Lanka has put a solid foundation in their run chase with an opening stand of 202 runs.

Jayawardene appeared to be a 'free man' after giving up his captaincy burdens.

Coming in as an opener replacing injured Sanath Jayasuriya, Jayawardene had an explosive knock of 123 off 108 balls with one six and 14 fours.

He was simply unstoppable as the ex-captain hammered Pakistan bowlers to all corners of Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium. It was a treat to watch when Jayawardene is in full cry, showing no mercy to Pakistan bowlers whatsoever. It was his hurricane innings that shattered Pakistan's hopes after the visitors made merry against the Lankan bowling.

After throwing a match which was well within their reach, Pakistan captain Younis Khan has said his team's poor fielding and the inability to make early breakthroughs in the Lankan innings were the main reasons for their downfall.

As the Pakistan skipper has quite rightly pointed out, fielding is important factor when a team is defending 280-plus total.

Unfortunately, Pakistan's ground fielding was not up to the mark and that made the difference at the end. It's the catches that win matches but Pakistan fielders failed to grab the chances that came their way.

Younis lavishly praised the new opening pair of Jayawardene and Tharanga; "Mahela and Upul put on a fantastic partnership of over 200. It was very easy for them after that, although we fought back with a couple of wickets," he was quoted as saying.

It is unfortunate that left-arm quick bowler Thilan Thishara Mirando narrowly missed the man of the match award in the second one day international which Sri Lanka won by six wickets.

It was Mirando who broke the backbone of the Pakistan batting with three important wickets - that of opener Kamral Akmal, No. 4 bat Shoaib Malik and No.6 bat Fawad Alam, to finish with 3 for 33 off his nine overs as Pakistan were bowled out for 168 in 47 overs. He was economically better that Muttiah Muralitharan (2 for 41) and Lasith Manilna , who went wicketless.

It was surprising that the man of the match award went to Chamara Kapugedara, who made 67 not out off 97 balls. His half century was not an extra-ordinary one, when considering the fact that Sri Lanka was chasing a target of only 169 in 50 overs. At the end, Mirando became an unfortunate victim of poor adjudicating. Kapugedara has been given enough and more opportunities to cement his place but he has often been off colour with an unimpressive average of 22.54 in his 62 one day internationals.

Nevertheless, it was a welcome return to the national team by Kapugedara who has been making desperate attempts to find a permanent place in the team.

It was encouraging to see young Angelo Mathews performing extremely well in his debut series. Having made his Test debut in the first Test at Galle, Mathews aggregated 191 runs at the end of the three-Test series with an average of 47.75. He has done well in the current ODI series against Pakistan too. It was his top score of 43 which helped Sri Lanka to make a modest total of 232 for 9 in the first one day international. At the end, the total was good enough for Sri Lanka to emerge victorious. Though he played in the second and third ODIs, he did not get a chance to bat. As Sri Lanka and Pakistan move to the day night games in the second leg of their ODI series, it would be interesting to see how the two teams will fare. Pakistan will be under tremendous pressure to regain their lost prestige. At the same time, Sri Lanka could not take things lightly and will have to play some serious cricket, f they are to make a clean sweep.

The two upcoming games should attract a better holiday crowd, especially with the week-end coming up in the city with some entertaining cricket.