Pakistan v Sri Lanka – Pakistan roar towards the final of the Asia Cup – 3rd Match Recap
Sri Lanka 188 (45.4 ov) v http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 189/4 (39.5 ov) - Pakistan won by 6 wickets (with 61 balls remaining)
On Thursday, March 15, 2012, Pakistan in the third match of the ongoing Asia Cup, beat rivals Sri Lanka by six wickets after successfully chasing a tally of 188 runs at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747.
After winning the toss, Sri Lanka chose to bat first as the side aimed to put enough runs on the board to subdue the Men in Green.
However, Pakistan fans got to witness a superb show from their bowlers as they dominated the batting side right from the word go, restricting the batsmen from playing according to their own terms.
With just 33 runs on the board, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DPMD-Jayawardene-c1397 who had come in as an opener, fell after playing an innings of 12 runs off 15 deliveries.
The wicket was taken by Pakistan pacer, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gates-c58585 of h**l upon the batting side.
Without further delay, the bowler struck again when he dismissed opener, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/TM-Dilshan-c2691, who fell after scoring only 20 runs. Dilshan fell at a time when the side had amassed only 43 runs on the board.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/LD-Chandimal-c1831, who faltered without scoring a run, this wicket was crucial and proved fatal for the Lankans as they never managed to recover from the early loss of a few top-order wickets.
With the pacer dominating the batsmen, it was time for Pakistan’s top spinner http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Saeed-Ajmal-c87859 to make Sri Lanka feel his presence in the match as he grabbed three wickets in his nine overs.
Meanwhile, Cheema finished with four wickets to his name and proved extremely difficult for the Lankan batsmen to counter as Sri Lanka stumbled after amassing 188 runs in 45.4 overs.
With a small total to defend, Sri Lanka needed a magical performance from their bowlers in order to secure a win in the match. The side struck early as Pakistan lost their first wicket with only 29 runs on the board as opener, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Nasir-Jamshed-c78752, perished after playing an innings of 18 runs off 25 deliveries.
With 31 runs on the board, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Hafeez-c76898 also departed after playing a knock of 11 runs off 35 deliveries.
Things almost went awry for Pakistan when they lost their third wicket with only 33 runs on the board as ace middle-order batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Younis-Khan-c98325 fell after playing a cameo innings of just two runs.
However, skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Umar-Akmal-c94595 got hold of the situation and batted superbly well to prevent Sri Lanka a win.
Haq, played an unbeaten innings of 72 runs, while Akmal fell after scoring 77 runs as Pakistan reached the required target in 39.5 overs for the loss of four wickets.
Cheema earned the Player of the Match award due to his superb bowling performance in the fixture.
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