Former President Late J.R. Jayewardene declared Public Holiday when
Sri Lanka won Asia Cup
by A.C De Silva
The 1985-86 Asia Cup cricket final played at the SSC grounds on April
6th turned out to be battle royal to win the John Player Gold Leaf
Trophy.
In response to the requests of the large crowd present at the SSC
grounds, the President of Sri Lanka then Mr. J.R. Jayawardene declared a
Public Holiday for Sri Lanka to commemorate the victory.
The toss was won by Sri Lanka, but the Lankans put Pakistan to bat
first and had them somewhat bottled up – 72 for 5 wickets after 26 overs,
but the Pakistanis had a great rearguard action fighter in Javed Miandad
who made a chanceless 67 (four fours) off 100 balls.
The Pakistanis had a somewhat of a drawback as skipper Imran Khan was
off the field because of a leg injury, he came to bat but was able to
make only 2 and was bowled by Ratnayake for 2.
So, it was left for Javed Miandad to do the bulk of the scoring and
he made 67 and gave the innings the push forward with that chanceless
knock. With Miandad seeing the ball well, the Pakistanis were able to
pile on the runs and they grabbed 91 runs in the last 9 overs of their
innings. So, Pakistan finally made 191 for 9 wickets off 45 overs.
Amalean – best bowler for Lanka 4 for 46
For the Sri Lankans, it was Kaushik Amalean who turned out to be the
most successful bowler and he claimed 4 wickets for 46 while partnering
Ashantha de Mel in opening the pace attack for the Lankans. Ashantha de
Mel who opened the attack had 1 for 21.
Aravinda and Arjuna half centuries
Besides Miandad, there was Mansoor Elahi (37), Salim Malik (23) and
there was an useful contribution of 30 from bowler Abdul Qadir that
somewhat propped up the batting and Pakistan finally made 191 for 9
wickets in their 45 over turn at the crease.
Came Sri Lanka’s turn to bat and though the Lankans started off well
in the middle, they lacked piling on the runs.
The first wicket fell at 40 and it was 64 for 3 wickets and it was
left for Aravinda de Silva (52) and Arjuna Ranatunga (57) to come
together in a soul saving fourth wicket partnership of 97 runs off 16.1
overs.
Ranatunga’s 57 came off 65 balls and Aravinda’s 52 came off 66 balls.
In the Pakistan bowling, it was spinner Abdul Qadir who pleased the
side in batting with a polished knock of 30, did yeoman service with the
ball and took 3 for 32.
Man of the match:
Javed Miandad (Pakistan)
Man of the series:
Arjuna Ranatunga (Sri Lanka)
SCOREBOARD
PAKISTAN
Mudassar Nazar b A. de Me 55
Mohsin Khan run out 07
Ramiz Raja c Mahanama c Amalean 02
Javed Miandad c Ratnayake b Amalean 67
Imran Khan b Ratnayake 02
Salim Malik c and b Amalean 23
Manzoor Elahi b Amalelan 37
Abdul Qadir c De Mel b Ratnayake 30
Zahir Khan did not bat --
Washim Akram c Gurusinha b Amalean 06
Zulquarnain not out 01
EXTRAS (lb4, w8, nb2) 14
TOTAL (for 9 wkts off 45 overs) 191
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-10, 3-24, 4-32, 5-72, 6-137
7-179, 8-185, 9-191
Bowling (Sri Lanka): A. de Mel 9-2-21-1
K. Amalean 9-1-46-4
L. Ratnayake 8-0-50-2
A. Ranatunga 9-1-27-0
D. Anurasiri 9-0-24-1
P.A. De Silva 1-0-19-0
SRI LANKA
Brendon Kuruppu c Malik b Qadir 30
R.S. Mahanama c Qadir b Manzoor 21
A.P. Gurusinha c Zulquarnain b Qadir 04
P.A. de Silva c sub b Mudassar 52
A. Ranatunga c Mohsin b Qadir 57
D. Mendis not out 22
R.L. Dias not out 00
EXTRAS (b-1, lb-6, w-2) 09
TOTAL (for 5 wkts in 42.2 overs) 195
Fall of wickets: 1-40, 2-59, 3-64, 4-161, 5-191.
Did not bat: J.R. Ratnayake, A.L.F. De Mel, S.D. Anurasiri, K.N. Amalean
Bowling (Pakistan): Washim Akram 7.2-2-22-0
Zahir Khan 6-0-36-0
Manzoor Elahi 9-0-30-1
Abdul Qadir 9-0-32-3
Salim Malik 3-0-19-0
Mudassar Nazar 8-0-49-1 |
