Sri Lanka humbles Pakistan by 37 runs in first T20 – Cricket News Update
Sri Lanka draws first blood against Pakistan by surging to a 37-run victory in the first T20 match of the series, played at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota, on Friday, June 1, 2012.
It was a low scoring game, however, the hosts showed great resilience to defend a http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Graham-Paul-Thorpe-c60622 total of 132. Pakistan’s juvenile batting order was exposed, as they were bundled out for 95 runs in 17.4 overs.
Thisara Perera, from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758, exhibited an all-round performance as the hosts took a one nil lead in the two match series. The left-handed lower order batsman clobbered 32 runs from just 16 deliveries to give the Lankan bowlers
a decent total to defend. Later, during Pakistan’s batting, Perera put the final nail in the coffin by dismissing the Green Shirts' number 11 batsman, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Saeed-Ajmal-c87859.
Perera, the aspiring cricketer from Colombo, was bestowed with Man of the Match accolades. After receiving the award at the post-match ceremony, Perera said, “This is my first match after the injury and I really enjoyed it. I was
out for one and a half months. I was just bowling quite naturally. Fielding is something I work very hard on.”
Friday was not a lucky day for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755.
Hafeez lost the toss and was forced to field first, however, bowlers did their part by dismissing the Sri Lankan top order cheaply. The Lankans would have been restricted for a far lesser score had it not been for the 16-ball cameo
by Perera.
Hafeez lamented the missed opportunities that Pakistan had during the game, however, acknowledged the special knock from the Lankan cricketer.
The losing captain said, “We had our moments but we couldn't capitalise on them. We started off well and we weren't giving away too many runs until the end when Perera batted very well. Perera made the difference.”
Hafeez backed his lads to bounce back and level the series. He said, “Our bowlers did well for us today and we can take some positives from this game. We shouldn't get too disheartened as it is only one loss.”
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