Pakistan vs Sri Lanka – T20 – Pakistan thrash Sri Lanka by five wickets - Match Recap
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 142 - Pakistan won by 5 wickets (with 3 balls remaining)
Pakistan grabbed a thrilling victory against Sri Lanka in the only T20 match of the series after beating the Lankans by five wickets on Friday, November 25, 2011 at http://www.senore.com/Cricket/United-Arab-Emirates-c3033 (UAE).
Given a target of 142 runs to chase in 20 overs by the Sri Lankans, Pakistan batted with calm and composure and kept their nerve in the dying moments of the game to secure a win and continue their unstoppable streak in the Arabian Peninsula.
Pakistan openers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Imran-Farhat-c64218 gave their side an opening stand of 31 runs before Hafeez who seemed a bit bogged down in the encounter was given leg-before wicket on a delivery bowled by Sri Lankan pacer Thisara Perera. The batsman found
his way back to the pavilion after scoring 13 runs off 14 deliveries.
With Hafeez back, Imran Farhat and middle-order batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Asad-Shafiq-c46208 collaborated to craft a befitting resistance against the Sri Lankan bowlers.
However, before the partnership could pose a potent threat, Farhat who was looking in great touch lost his wicket after playing an impressive knock of 19 runs off 15 deliveries. Farhat’s wicket was crucial as he was smacking the Lankans all over the park
and looking really dangerous.
With Farhat back in the pavilion, Pakistan were beginning to lose their hold on the game as they were two wickets down with only 36 runs on the board.
Disaster struck when http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Umar-Akmal-c94595 who had come in after Farhat’s departure lost his wicket without scoring a run. The demise of Akmal was a blow to Pakistan who were banking on the youngster to form a stiff resistance alongside Shafiq.
Pakistan skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972 then walked in to stall the Sri Lankan bowling onslaught as it was obvious that Pakistan were going to lose the game if the Sri Lankans were not subdued in time.
Together Misbah and Shafiq brought stability in the Pakistan batting line-up as they formed a commendable resistance against the bowlers who were running wild earlier in the innings.
The two batsmen clobbered 46 runs together in the fourth-wicket partnership, before http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shafiq-c89281 was removed on the penultimate delivery of the 15th over after scoring 33 runs. At the time of his departure, Pakistan had managed to post 90 runs on the
board.
The fall of the young batsman brought in star all-rounder http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 which erupted a chanting from the spectators who were overwhelmed to see the batsman walk in the field.
However, instead of launching a barrage of sixes and boundaries, the hard-hitting batsman crafted his innings mildly as he knew Pakistan needed to retain wicket till the end in order to win the game.
With the run rate climbing gradually it were the two sixes in the penultimate over of the match that really saved the day for his side. Nonetheless, he lost his wicket on the last delivery of the same over after scoring 22 runs.
It was then the Pakistan skipper who steered his side to victory in the final over of the match as he played a stupendous knock of 48 runs.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Pakistan pacer http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Aizaz-Cheema-c961 incinerated the Sri Lankan batting line as he grabbed four wickets which helped prevent the Lankans from scoring a mammoth tally on the board.
From Sri Lanka http://www.senore.com/Cricket/LD-Chandimal-c1831 scored a knock of 56 runs and was the highest scorer from his team, while the rest of the Sri Lankan batting line-up failed to give a commendable show against the belligerent Pakistan bowling.
Cheema was named as the Player of the Match for an outstanding bowling performance.
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