Pakistan v Sri Lanka: 2nd ODI – Match Preview
Pakistan will take on Sri Lanka in the second One Day International (ODI) of the five match series at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/United-Arab-Emirates-c3033 (UAE) on Monday, November 14, 2011.
The Men in Green have already taken a 1-0 lead in the series and have the momentum going into the second ODI. They will also be feeling very positive after winning the three match Test series 1-0.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 skipper, has had a terrific record as captain of the team and is yet to be defeated in the 50-over format. He has now won seven games on the trot and will look to continue his winning streak in the coming matches.
There was a lot of criticism on the 37-year-old after he was named captain of the team in all three formats of the game. However, he silenced his critics by performing both as a leader and a batsman.
Misbah took over from Shahid Afridi, who was sacked from captaincy after having a dispute with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Waqar-Younis-Maitla-c96193.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka also have been playing under a new captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 World Cup 2011.
The former has been unable to make an impression as a leader and is yet to win a single Test or ODI series against any team.
Dilshan’s first assignment as skipper was the English tour where he lost both the Test and ODI series. The team saw a similar result against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Lions-c808 when they toured UAE for a Pakistan hosted series.
The Men in Green were considered to be a lighter opponent compared to Australia and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013, but things turned out to be difficult for the Sri Lankan team once they came head to head with the opposition.
After winning the Test series, Pakistan crushed the tourists by an eight wicket victory in the first ODI.
The hosts were completely dominant over the opposition and seem to have found the right balance for limited-over cricket.
Sri Lanka were bowled out for 131 runs in 40.3 overs and the target was chased by the opposition in just 21.5 overs, losing a couple of wickets.
Star all-rounder http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 returned to the team with a bang, dismissing three batsmen in the match. He was named player-of-the-match for an impressive show with the ball and will look to continue his dominant performance in the upcoming match.
Batting was also very good for the Men in Green, as opener http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Younis-Khan-c98325 scored solid half-centuries for the team.
However, the middle-order of the team is yet to be exposed which might struggle to perform under pressure.
Three players in the middle-order, Afridi, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Umar-Akmal-c94595 are making a comeback to the side and might not be able to bat freely as they usually do.
However, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DPMD-Jayawardene-c1397 will have to take charge of the batting and score big runs.
The bowling line up seems to be a decent one for the visitors, but they will need some support from the batsmen in order to challenge Pakistan.
With the current momentum and form, Pakistan are likely to win today’s match as well, but if the Lankan Lions can bat well then things can be a touch different.
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