Sri Lanka announced themselves as favourites for the Asia Cup, putting in a near-flawless performance at the Premadasa Stadium to coast to a ridiculously easy seven-wicket victory in their first match of the second round-robin stage
Bulletin by S Rajesh21-Jul-2004Sri Lanka 123 for 3 beat Pakistan 122 (Razzaq 43, Zoysa 3-29) by 7 wickets
Scorecard
Sanath Jayasuriya takes cover from Shoaib Akhtar before he was out for 20© AFP
Sri Lanka announced themselves as favourites for the Asia Cup, putting in a near-flawless performance at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo to coast to a ridiculously easy seven-wicket victory in their first match of the second phase. Led by outstanding new-ball spells from Nuwan Zoysa and Chaminda Vaas, they first bundled out Pakistan for 122 with more than ten overs to spare, then coasted to the target in 32 overs to walk away with the bonus point as well.It all went rapidly downhill for Pakistan after Inzamam-ul-Haq won the toss in what looked like perfect batting conditions. This was their first real challenge under Bob Woolmer, their new coach – the games against Hong Kong and Bangladesh were little more than strolls in the park – but all the talk about this being a rejuvenated outfit was quickly consigned to the rubbish bin by an opposition which bowled with exceptional skill and control, fielded like dervishes, and, once they established early dominance, never allowed Pakistan a look-in.There was nothing in the pitch that suggested such domination by the bowlers. On the contrary, it looked a typically firm, flat one-day track, and the pre-match chitchat suggested a total of around 260 as being par for the course. But Vaas – desperately unlucky to end up wicketless – and Zoysa ensured that Pakistan wouldn’t even get close to that.Time after time, they pitched the ball perfectly around off stump, just short of a driving length, with a packed off-side field. Only 44 came off the first 15 overs as Sri Lanka choked off all the scoring options. Yasir Hameed, normally so fluent on the drive, struggled to get the ball off the square, repeatedly squirting the ball straight to the fielders: his first 28 balls fetched him just two runs. Imran Nazir’s patience ran out much earlier, as he guided one from Zoysa to Mahela Jayawardene at slip almost as if offering him catching practice (19 for 1).Shoaib Malik, a centurion in the last match, came in at No. 3 again, but managed just 4 this time before slashing a drive straight to Tillakaratne Dilshan at point. That brought Inzamam to the crease, and the prospect of a key battle as Marvan Atapattu handed the ball to Muttiah Muralitharan. Murali needed just three balls to nail the contest: he tossed one up, Inzamam came down the pitch but only managed to convert it into a yorker, which he jammed onto his boot, and watched in utter disbelief as the ball trickled back into the stumps (45 for 3).Then came another moment of madness from a Pakistan batsman. Yousuf Youhana played the third ball he faced defensively to silly point and, for some reason, wandered down the pitch. Showing superb presence of mind, Dilshan snapped the ball up and threw down the stumps with Youhana still out of the crease. When Younis Khan wafted at one and was snaffled by Jayawardene at a wide slip (52 for 5), Pakistan had lost three wickets in ten balls for seven runs.
Abdul Razzaq plays defensively in his 43© AFP
With the top order back in the hutch, Sri Lanka then went for the kill, with Muralitharan, Upul Chandana and Farveez Maharoof blocking up the middle overs to great effect. Lack of runs led to panic among the batsmen, which resulted in more wickets: Hameed’s painstaking 22 was ended by a run-out, while Moin nicked one to Kumar Sangakkara soon afterwards (88 for 7).Abdul Razzaq has often bailed Pakistan out in the past, and briefly threatened to play the saviour once again. Mixing carefully nudged singles with some typically meaty blows, he took his team past 100, but once he fell for 43, top-edging a pull off Maharoof, the innings folded in double-quick time.Sri Lanka swept to the target with plenty in reserve. Shoaib Akhtar, operating from a full run-up, and Mohammad Sami often rattled both openers with quick, short deliveries, but any errors in length were mercilessly punished. Pakistan didn’t help their cause by conceding a spate of extras – there were 25 in the innings, more than 20% of the total.Sanath Jayasuriya, back in the side after missing the previous game, clattered a couple of fours in characteristic fashion before nicking to slip for 20 (51 for 1). Despite being completely out of sorts, Avishka Gunawardene survived, often quite fortuitously, labouring to 26 off 78 balls. His wicket, immediately after Atapattu’s dismissal, left Sri Lanka at 88 for 3, and Pakistan had perhaps half a sniff, but Jayawardene quickly restored normal service with a flurry of fours, leaving Woolmer with plenty to ponder before Pakistan’s next match, against India on Sunday.
