Lankans survive Akram blast in a thriller

Akram was in devastating form as he took his team within sniffing distance of victory slamming four sixes and five fours during his hurricane knock but the Lankans swung the game back in their favour after his departure to record their first win in the series from three outings.

With Pakistan at a precarious 98 for six, Akram led the fightback as he put on a rollicking 83 runs for the eighth wicket with Saqlain Mushtaq (28 not out) but itwent in vain as the tailenders succumbed quite tamely in the home stretch.

Earlier, electing to bat, the Lankans rode on a sparkling 101 by `Man of the Match’ Mahela Jayawardene and some lusty hitting by all-rounder Upul Chandana (35) to pile up a healthy 253 for eight in their allotted 50 overs on what looked to be a good Corporation Stadium batting track.

Star bat Aravinda de Silva and skipper Arjuna Ranatunga fell cheaply to medium-pacer Azhar Mehmood (4-40), but Marvan Atapattu (28) and Hashan Tillekeratne (25) made vital contributions to lift the score.

The 21-year-old Jayawardene, who struck his second ODI century, showed great character by holding one end up as the Sri Lankan later order put up a gutsy show after Ranatunga won the toss and elected to bat in the tie they had to win to be in the race for a final spot.

Pakistan, looking to seal the final berth with their third win, began on a disastrous note as paceman Pramodeya Wickremasinghe, who took four for 48 in the first match at Jamshedpuragainst Pakistan, struck in quick succession.

He removed the explosive Shahid Afridi (0), teenage debutant Imran Nazir (2) and the experienced Ijaz Ahmed (12) as Pakistan found themselves at a precarious 19 for three in the first five overs of the innings.

Inzamam-ul Haq and Yousuf Youhana played cautiously to stem the rot and add 39 runs for the fourth wicket as new ball bowlers Wickremasinghe and Eric Upasantha stuck to their tasks admirably to dry up the run flow.

Off-spinner Ruwan Kalpage, introduced in the 16th over in place of Upasantha, provided the breakthrough by evicting Inzamam-ul Haq by taking a brilliant return catch.

Pakistanis plunged further into trouble when Youhana, who has not managed to put up a big score in the series so far, went for a mighty heave but could not connect properly and spooned a catch to Atapattu on the boundary line off Kalpage for 21.

It was left to Azhar Mahmood (37) and Moin Khan (16) to salvage the innings somewhat as the two put on 34 runs for the sixthwicket, but Akram single-handedly threatened to take the match away from Sri Lanka before de Silva (2-26) removed him in the 45th over to pull the match his team’s way.

Scoreboard

Sri Lanka

Gunawardene c Akram b Shoaib Akhter 11, Atapattu c Imran Nazir b Azhar Mahmood 25, Jayawardene run out (Ijaz/Moin ) 101, PA de Silva c Nazir b Azhar 9, A Ranatunga c Moin b Azhar Mehmood 0, Tillakaratne c Moin b Azhar 25, Chandana c Akram b Saqlain 36, Upashantha run out (Nazir/Saqlain) 2, Kalpage not out 16, Boteju not out 1.

Extras (b2, lb10, w8, nb7) 27 Total (8 wickets, 50 overs) 253 DNB: GP Wickramasinghe. Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Gunawardene, 3.2 ov), 2-66 (Atapattu, 15.3 ov), 3-86 (de Silva, 19.3 ov), 4-86 (Ranatunga, 19.4 ov), 5-156 (Tillakaratne, 34.5 ov), 6-218 (Chandana, 43.1 ov), 7-228 (Upashantha, 45.1 ov), 8-238 (Jayawardene, 48.1 ov).

Bowling: Akram 10-0-38-0 (3nb, 1w); Akhtar 8-0-45-1 (2nb, 2w); Azhar Mahmood 10-1-36-4 (1nb); Saqlain 10-1-39-1 (1w); Arshad Khan9-0-62-0; Shahid Afridi 3-0-17-0 (1w).Pakistan

Pak penalised two overs for slow over rate

Afridi c Atapattu b W’singhe 0, Nazir c Chandana b Wickremasinghe 2, Ijaz c sub (Arnold) b Wickremasinghe 12, Inzamam c & b Kalpage 16, Youhana c Atapattu b Kalpage 21, Azhar c & b Upashantha 37, Moin st Tillakaratne b Chandana 16, Akram c Chandana b Aravinda de Silva 79, Saqlain not out 28 39, Arshad run out (Tillakaratne) 5, Shoaib c W’singhe b de Silva 2.

Extras (lb3, w9, nb11) 23 Total (all out, 46.3 overs) 241

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Afridi, 0.4 ov), 2-2 (Imran Nazir, 2.1 ov), 3-18 (Ijaz, 4.2 ov), 4-58 (Inzamam, 17.1 ov), 5-64 (Youhana, 19.4 ov), 6-98 (Moin, 25.3 ov), 7-146 (Azhar, 33.2 ov), 8-229 (Akram, 44.3 ov), 9-238 (Arshad, 45.5 ov), 10-241 (Akhtar, 46.3 ov).

Bowling: Wickramasinghe 9-0-35-3 (1nb); Upashantha 10-1-39-1 (7nb, 1w); Boteju 9-0-57-0 (1w); Kalpage 9-0-61-2 (3nb); Chandana 3-0-21-1 (1w); de Silva 6.3-0-26-2.