After Angelo Mathews and Muttiah Muralitharan had combined to devastatingeffect with the bat, Sri Lanka’s pace bowlers scythed through Pakistan’stop order to lead them to a 36-run victory on a blustery day in Dambulla
The Bulletin by Dileep Premachandran30-Jul-2009
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outThilan Thushara’s three wickets derailed Pakistan’s chase, which left them struggling at 134 for 8 at one stage•Associated Press
After Angelo Mathews and Muttiah Muralitharan had combined to devastatingeffect with the bat, Sri Lanka’s pace bowlers scythed through Pakistan’stop order to lead them to a 36-run victory on a blustery day in Dambulla.Sri Lanka seemingly had the game in the bag at 134 for 8, but a gritty andstroke-filled 62-run stand between Umar Gul and Mohammad Aamer so nearlyspoilt their day. Pakistan had bossed the opening exchanges after electingto field on a green-tinged pitch, but they never quite recovered from abatting Powerplay in which 54 runs were conceded. With none of thefrontline batsmen able to build on starts, it was left to the tail to tryand pull off a miracle.Sri Lanka had scripted a stirring revival of their own in the morning.After 44 overs, they were an underwhelming 169 for 6. But once NuwanKulasekara fell, having added 42 with Mathews, Murali whirled his bat likea dervish. Gul was top-edged for four and then straight-driven for six inan over that cost 15, and Shahid Afridi then clobbered through the offside for fours before Aamer put the sheen on a superb debut display bybowling him for 32. It had taken just 15 balls though, and by then, on asurface where run-making was not easy, Sri Lanka had enough of a total todefend.Pakistan appeared deflated by that revival, and their batting effort neverleft the ground. Kulasekara started things off, tormenting Shoaib Malikoutside his off stump. The odd ball would move away, while others wouldnip back and force him into the most awkward contortions. The scoreboardwas moving thanks to a couple of lovely drives from Kamran Akmal but therewas an air of inevitability about Malik’s dismissal, bowled playing downthe wrong line to a straighter one.After Lasith Malinga’s slingshot pace and slower balls had failed toprovide a breakthrough, Kumar Sangakkara turned to Thilan Thushara, and hestruck with his very first delivery. Akmal also played down the wrong lineto one that deviated little, and saw his stumps pegged back. When MohammadYousuf then chased a wide one from Kulasekara, Pakistan had slumped to 48for 3.Afridi injected some energy into proceedings, clubbing Malinga overmidwicket for six, but there was nothing distinguished about the lazyslice to Thushara that ended his innings at 27. Once Younis Khan flayedThushara down to Mathews at third man, and Misbah-ul-Haq popped one backto Murali off the leading edge, the cause was hopelessly lost.Fawad Alam and Abdul Razzaq delayed the inevitable while making no dent onthe asking-rate, but it was left to Gul and Mohammad Aamer to send somefrissons of worry through the Lankan camp with some cavalier hitting intheir own Powerplay. Some sloppy bowling from Malinga helped their causeand it was left to Mahela Jayawardene to seal the deal late on with adirect hit from point to run out Aamer. With Malinga yorking Gul nextball, it was all over.It could have been so very different for Pakistan, who had seen Razzaq andAamer bowl really well with the new ball in the morning. The initialbreakthrough was delayed only because of indifferent fielding. Akmal putdown a sharp chance off Sanath Jayasuriya down the leg side, denying Razzaq afairytale return after two years in the wilderness. And Razzaq himselfcould have had Jayasuriya a couple of overs later, but a miscue straightback down the pitch was embarrassingly dropped right in front of thebatsman’s face.At the other end, Upul Tharanga was in poor touch, beaten repeatedlyoutside his off stump with feet scarcely moving. It was Jayasuriya whowent first though, slashing the second ball he faced from Gul down toAamer at third man. Aamer had impressed with the new ball, bowling withpace and beating the bat often. And after Tharanga was put out of hismisery, nicking one behind, it needed a 48-run stand between Sangakkaraand Jayawardene to resurrect the innings.As in the Test series, Sangakkara seldom failed to cash in on the badball, stroking Gul through mid-on and cover, and clipping Younis’part-time medium-pace through midwicket for fours. But just as it seemedthat the time was ripe to accelerate, he was undone by a Saeed Ajmaldelivery that dipped and turned, and the attempt to cut merely looped topoint.Then came an almighty stutter. Chamara Kapugedera edged Afridi behind, andthe onus was on Jayawardene to up the ante. Thilan Samaraweera couldn’t domuch on his return to the side, miscuing a pull to mid-on, and whenJayawardene was caught short going for a non-existent second run byYounis’ flat throw from midwicket, the wheels were off and the axlenearly broken.But Mathews and Kulasekara didn’t panic, scoring in singles and twosbefore the Powerplay was taken. The final flourish did the rest, as thepreviously economical Afridi and Gul were taken apart. Gul tried to returnthe favour when Pakistan took their own Powerplay late in the game, but bythen, it was far too late to be anything more than a consolation.
