Erratic http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 hold nerve to edge out Sri Lanka in Group A World Cup match at Colombo
PAK 277/7 in 50 overs SRI 266/9 in 50 overs
Despite some shocking fielding and wicket-keeping effort, the mercurial Pakistani team dealt a severe blow to co-hosts http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 defeating them by 11 runs in a Group A match of the World Cup played at the packed to capacity Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Batting first the Pakistani batsmen gave a fine display of batsmanship on a good batting wicket posting a sizeable total. The batting effort revolved around the contribution by the two pivotal players in the team Younis Khan and Misbah Ul Haq.
Misbah who has been in smashing form of late once again underlined his value to the team, the right hander who is the captain of the test team remained undefeated till the end of the innings scoring 83 off only 91 balls.
He was a perfect mix of caution and aggression with his blip at the end along with a cameo by captain Shahid Afridi ensuring that the men in green reach the pivotal 277 run mark which was more than the highest ever chase at the venue in an ODI.
The Sri Lankans started off positively they looked set to overhaul the target after a 76 run stand for the first wicket between Tilkaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga. However the Pakistanis roared back in the game with a stunning 15 minute burst that
yielded 4 wickets.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 claimed two of those wickets, his delivery to Thilan Samaraweera that stumped the veteran was a real beauty, and similarly Shoaib Akhtar rattled the stumps of Mahela Jayawardene with a brilliant in-swinger that crashed into the middle
peg.
The hosts were brought back in the game by Kumar Sangakkara and Chamara Silva. The two were given a series of chances by the gracious Pakistani fielders and wicket keeper Kamran Akmal who missed two stumpings off Abdur Rehman.
Rehman himself was guilty of dropping an absolute dolly off Umar Gul, with Silva the fortunate batsman.
However the Pakistanis regained their composure quickly, Sangakkara was sent packing by Afridi, and the wicket was his 300th in the ODI format.
The last Sri Lankan batsmen kept fighting till the end yet it was always an uphill battle that they lost out by 11 runs.
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