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Sri Lanka crush Pakistan
Colombo, July 22: Sri Lanka
sounded a major warning to their rivals with a crushing seven-wicket victory
over Pakistan in a Super League match of the Asia Cup one-day cricket tournament
here yesterday. After bundling out the defending champions for a paltry 122, the
Lankans cruised to victory with 18 overs to spare in the day-night clash at the
Premadasa Stadium. Nuwan Zoysa was the wrecker in chief with three for 29 while
Farveez Maharoof grabbed two for 25 to leave the Pakistani batting in shreds.
Marvan Atapattu's men were also
brilliant on the field effecting three run outs. Inzamam-ul Haq's decision to
bat first proved to be disastrous as his batsmen got out playing extravagant
shots. Only allrounder Abdul Razzaq produced an innings of some substance with a
71-ball 43. The Pakistani pacemen bowled a tidy line and length and their
control with the wearing whiteball under the lights only amplified the shoddy
performance by their teammates. But there were really few hiccups for the home
team as the target proved to be too small to defend for Shoaib Akhtar and Co.
The hosts now have beaten both
the major contenders for the title following their 12-run defeat of India in the
group match on Sunday. Pakistan take on India in another floodlit encounter on
Sunday while Sri Lanka take on Bangladesh on Friday before squaring up against
India on Tuesday next week. The top two teams from the Super League will play
the final on August 1. Pakistan's hopes of redeeming their champion reputation,
which has taken a severe beating in recent times, were dealt a huge blow after a
disastrous batting performance in the afternoon. As batsman after batsman came
to the crease and returned without a significant contribution to the scoreline,
it revived the debate on the decline in their batting standards which had been
the major topic during their series loss to India early this year.
Razzaq was the only batsman to
notch up a respectable score but, like his other teammates, he too was guilty of
some unintelligent cricket. The right-handed batsman top edged a pull shot to
end a vital knock when it was imperative to bat out the full quota of overs. The
Lankans extended their brilliant fielding performance they showed against India
to effect three run outs. Pakistan have roped in Bob Woolmer as their coach in
an effort to reverse their sliding fortunes but Inzamam-ul Haq's men seemed to
bat in a daze.
The 32-run partnership Razzaq
stitched with Mohammad Sami for the eighth wicket was the only phase when their
batting seemed to have any sanity. Sanath Jayasuriya seemed to rediscover his
batting form with a fine 20 off 36 balls before Mohammad Sami had him caught by
Younis Khan. Ironically, the in-form Avishka Gunawardene, who had anchored Sri
Lanka's innings in the group matches, had a torrid time in negotiating the
seamers. He survived a probing spell by Sami who bowled nine overs on the trot
with the new ball. Shabbir Ahmed then came up with his reverse swing to
bamboozle both Gunawardene and Atapattu while Razzaq bowled a nagging line and
length that gave little scope for the batsmen to free their arms.
Atapattu, who had struck three
stylish boundaries for his 19, perished when a leading edge off Razzaq went
straight to Shoaib Malik at point. Razzaq struck again in his every next over
when he sent back the left-handed Gunawardene. Kumar Sangakkara (14) and Mahela
Jayawardene (19), the pair that took the match away from India on Sunday,
knocked off the remaining runs. The total of 122 was Pakistan's lowest in the
Asia Cup and its lowest ever against Sri Lanka. (Agencies)
Published: Thursday, July 22,
2004
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