Sri Lanka v http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 – T20 – Series Recap
Following a slow start to their tour of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758, which culminated in a disappointing 37 runs loss in the opening T20, Pakistan managed to share the spoils in the two match T20 series after winning the second T20 by 23 runs, courtesy their talisman and
premier all-rounder, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482.
The opening match was Mohammad Hafeez’s first assignment as the new T20 skipper but his script hardly went to plan, despite signs of early promise. The initial spark was provided by the Men in Green bowlers, who had done well to restrict the hosts to a mediocre,
by T20 standards, 132.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KC-Sangakkara-c1779 was exceptional. The Green shirts looked dominating for the best part of the game until Thisara Perera played a valuable
hand of unbeaten 32 – striking at more than two-a-ball – to help his side post a reasonable enough score.
The chase was hardly of note, with the tourists losing their skipper and one-down batter in the first two balls of the innings. It was a downward slide thereafter as only http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ahmed-Shehzad-c42359 (36) and Umar Akmal (12) managed to reach double figures – Pakistan folding
on an embarrassing 95 in 17.4 overs.
All Lankan bowlers were impressive with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AD-Mathews-c913 the pick – 4-1-8-2.
The second T20 had a striking resemblance to the first T20 but ultimately it was the away team which triumphed. Pakistan opted to bat first and faced another scare after their top order fell flat against the host’s bowling lineup (minus http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SL-Malinga-c2540).
Hafeez found some form to register 24 but his dismissal had left his side precariously placed at 41 for 4 after Ahmed Shehzad, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Umar-Akmal-c94595 had all fallen cheaply. Luckily for the visitors, Afridi had his batting gloves on for good and allowed
his team to recover from a seemingly lost situation. His unbeaten 52 propelled his side to post a respectable 122 on the board.
Sri Lankan reply stuttered following the first dismissal when http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Yasir-Arafat-c98241 sent back Kumar Sangakkara in the 4th over. The pacer got another in the same over, after which Boom Boom turned on the style in the middle stages where his two scalps,
including one of Dilshan, pinned the Lankans on the back foot. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Sami-c77289 was than effective in his second spell, bagging three crucial scalps to cut the hosts of on a lowly 99 – 23 runs short of the target.
The win gave Hafeez his first victory as the T20 skipper, while Sohail Tanvir and Afridi scooped up the respective Player of Series and Match awards.
The focus will now shift to the limited-overs series where both teams will lock horns in the first of five matches on June 7 at Pallekele.
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