Team effort brings Lankans a grand win

Elmo Rodrigopulle reporting from UAE

After a long time Angelo Mathews who won the man of the match award, led from the front and played a captain’s knock to lead Sri Lanka to an exciting two-wicket win with two balls to spare in the Second of Five one-day internationals against Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Ground on Friday night.

With this win, the series stands at one each. And the third one in Sharjah is set to be a sizzler today. The Lankans have regained their lost confidence and believing in themselves and playing the way we know they can, and if they continue in this vein can again shoot down the Pakistanis. To recap – chasing 284 for victory, Sri Lanka made 287 for 8 with Sachitra Senanayake square cutting Afridi for four to the point boundary to signal the leveling of the five match series 1-1 and sending the large Lanka squad of supporters into raptures.

Strong batting line up

When Mathews won the toss and asked Pakistan to strike on a wicket

that looked similar to the one in Sharjah, and with a strong batting line up to contend with, it looked as though the Lankans would have to chase leather like they did in the first game. But in asking the Pakistanis in, Mathews was confident that they could restrict the Pakistanis this time round. The early wicket of Sharjeel Khan LBW to Malinga for 7 at 8, had the Pakistanis back pedaling. Like in Sharjah, the opposing batsmen were never allowed to cut loose. Although Ahmed Shehzad who made a classic 124 and first game century maker Mohammad Hafeez 32 put on 76 for the second wicket, the Lankans had them in control.

The bowlers were bowling tight, wicket to wicket and on one side and the batsmen were not allowed freedom to make easy runs. The Lankan fielding too was good and it restricted the run flow.

Towards the latter stages of the Pakistan innings, the Lankans tended to relax which Captain Misbah 59 and Shahid Afridi took adavantage of to score quickly and take Pakistan to a final defendable 284 for 4.

Of the Lankan bowlers, slinger Lasith Malinga took a bit of hammer going for 78 runs for one wicket in 10 overs. It was an unlike Malinga spell, yet at the media briefing Mathews said that Malinga and Kulasekera who went for 56 for one wicket, bowled well.

The wicket played true when the Lankans batted and the expected dew factor did not materialize to make gripping of the ball and bowling difficult and the Lankan batsmen had to bat sensibly and with purpose.

The reliable openers Kushal Perera 16 and Tillekeratne Dilshan 40 once again provided a solid opening putting on 49 for the first wicket and setting the platform for the rest of the batting to come good and force a win.

Getting run out is an ugly way of being dismissed. And when chasing and looking for a victory to stay in the series, both batsmen being run out was unacceptable, especially Dilshan. There was no need to rush, when cool heads were the need of the moment.

After Dilshan steadied the ship with Sangakkara, Chandimal 44 joined Sangakkara 58 and rode the boat to calmer waters with a stand of 94 in 104 balls and Mathews 49 and Dimuth Karunaratne 15 rode the boat ashore to signal a confidence boosting victory by 2 wickets. Sangakkara’s 58 in 67 balls with 7 fours and a six came at the right time. In the absence of Mahela Jayewardene he had to take responsibility and responded admirably and was the top actor. Similar efforts are required from him in the remaining three games.

In the next three games the Lankans must not relax, but stay calm, collected and confident, learn from the mistakes stay positive and then there is no reason why they should not stuff the high-riding Pakistanis in the series.

The Pakistanis are individually brilliant. But collectively they are divided and under pressure they are a poor example. And if the Lankans keep and treat them that way, there is no way that they can rise, Phoenix like from the ashes.

‘A delighted Angelo Mathews facing the press with the broad smile after the game said: ‘It was the spirit that helped us win. We had to fight really hard for that victory.

‘Everyone contributed in bits and pieces and it was a team effort that saw us over the line. In the Power Plays, if you have wickets in hand up to the end it helps.

Against Pakistan the game is not over and you have to fight till the last ball is bowled and we did it that way and we have to stay positive.

‘Openers Kushal Janith Perera and Tillekeratne Dilshan got us off to a promising start and the manner in which Sangakkara and Chandimal set up the game we had to take it from there and did just that.

‘We don’t have Mahela Jayewardene so the experience of someone like Sangakkara becomes invaluable when we are facing high quality spinners such as Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi.

‘It will be a very exciting series. The first game was an exciting one and so was the second.

Hopefully it will stay the same. When we took the field we were very confident and our heads were high because even though we lost the first game we chased the target’, said Mathews.