Pakistan fightsback to win Test series

Pakistan and Sri Lanka have just begun their five-match One Day International (ODI) series with the first game at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium yesterday.

The two teams will now travel to Kandy to play the second ODI at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday before coming down to Colombo to play the next two games at R. Premadasa Stadium. The last game of the series will take place at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Sooriyawewa, Hambantota on July 26.

Now that the three-Test series has been concluded with an unexpected 2-1 victory for Pakistan, it will be interesting to take a stock on what had happened, especially the series deciding final Test in Pallekele.

After been in the driving seat until the lunch break on the penultimate day, Sri Lanka suffered a shock seven-wicket defeat in the third Test, missing Pakistan a memorable series victory.

The series win over Sri Lanka helped Pakistan to climb three steps up in the ICC world Test rankings - from sixth to third place. Pakistan, who had begun the series with 97 points, bagged four rating points from the win and steered clear of England, India and New Zealand. However, Sri Lanka retained in their No. 7 position with only 92 points.

Pakistan draw first blood

It was a keenly contest Test series with Pakistan making the first blood. Despite a brilliant 124 by opener Kaushal Silva and a fighting 79 by Dimuth Karunaratne in the second innings, Sri Lanka lost the first Test at Galle International Stadium by ten wickets.

The 117-run first innings lead came in handy for Pakistan as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 206 runs in the second essay. If not for Karunaratne's brave knock, Pakistan would have earned an innings win.

But Sri Lanka came back strongly in the second Test played at Saravanamuttu Stadium. Pakistan's decision to take the first lease of the Sara wicket bounced back as the visitors were shot out for 138 runs, giving Sri Lanka a distinct advantage and an opportunity to square the series.

Although Azhar Ali showed a good resistance to the Lankan bowling with a brave century, he could not save his team as the home team romped to a seven-wicket victory to level the series one-all. The weather gods came to Pakistan's rescue regularly, but they too could not prevent the Lankan victory.

Hence, the focus was on the third and final Test which was going to decide the series. It all appeared as if Sri Lanka was going for a 2-1 series win as they dominated play in the first three days of play at Pallekele International Stadium.

Opener Dimuth Karunaratne who proved his credentials right throughout the series made a fluent century in the first innings as Sri Lanka took a 63-run first innings lead. A majestic captain's knock of 122 by Angelo Mathews helped Sri Lanka to set Pakistan a victory target of 377.

Younis turned the game

That appeared to be an uphill task for Pakistan as they lost the first two wickets cheaply in their run chase to be 13 for 2 - still needing 364 runs to win with only eight wickets in hand. But a double century stand for the third wicket and an unfinished century partnership for the fourth made it so easy for Pakistan at the end, thanks to that epic unbeaten 171 by Younis Khan.

His marathon knock guided Pakistan to its highest successful run-chase in a Test and only second highest in Asia by any side. Overall, it was the sixth highest successful chase in Test cricket. More importantly, it was a big boost for Pakistan to register their first series win in Sri Lanka since 2006.

Younis, by associating in two big partnerships, made sure that Pakistan marches towards that daunting target after his side had lost two early wickets.

When Pakistan lost the second wicket at 14, it appeared to be a gigantic battle for survival, forget a victory altogether! Yet, Younis' willow made the difference at the end, shattering Lanka's dreams.

The highest fourth-innings partnership for Pakistan - 242 runs, between Younis and Shan Masood came to an end when the latter fell on the final day morning for 125. But by then, Pakistan was cursing along as Misbah-ul Haq joined Younis in the Pakistan run feast with the visitors needing only 122 runs more to win with seven wickets intact. The arrival of Misbah-ul Haq to the middle aggravated the headaches of Lankan bowlers as he made an unbeaten 59 to signal Pakistan's memorable victory with a six.

Nevertheless, Sri Lanka's fast bowlers tried their level best to slow down the Pakistan run chase. Younis, Masood and Mishbah faced spinners well though they were not equally clever in facing the quickies as the first boundary of the final day came only in the tenth over, when Younis edged Nuwan Pradeep through a vacant slip region.

Sanga's absence felt

The absence of veteran batsman Kumar Sangakkara was badly felt in the third Test. It appears that Sri Lanka had fallen short of another 30 to 50 runs in the second innings to set Pakistan a psychologically tough victory target of over 400 runs. Had Sangakkara been there or Dinesh Chanidimal batted for a few more overs in the second innings, the story would have been different.

The big question was why Sanga was granted permission to skip the decisive third and final Test. There is no doubt that Sangakkara is one of the most brilliant cricketers Sri Lanka has ever produced and his contribution to the game has been immense.

But that does not grant him freedom to pick and choose matches in a Test series, which is definitely a bad example not only to younger players in the team but also the seniors. What if they too sight this as precedence and demand the same from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC)?

If Sanga was to retire from the established game after the second Test it would have been a different story. But he is planning to do the same in the upcoming home series against India too - to play only in the first two Tests of the three-match series. When his team mates were battling it out to save the third Test, Sanga was a mere spectator at the Wimbledon to catch tennis action from the Royal box.

However, one could not entirely put the blame on Sanga's absence for the defeat.

He had not shown his usual from in the first two Tests as well - scoring 50 and 18 in the first Test, 34 and a first ball 'duck' in the second Test, to average only 25.50 in his last four Test innings, far below by his usual standards.

Nevertheless, Sanga will retire during the forthcoming Test series against India as one of the best batsmen ever produced in world cricket, probably by equaling the world record for most number of double centuries held by Australian Sir Donald Bradman. Sanga is only one short of Bradman's record of 12.