Pak too good for Sri Lankan8217;s

DHAKA, JUNE 5: A new facet of Pakistani cricket was on display today. Their fielding, has rarely been their strong point but, going by the...

DHAKA, JUNE 5: A new facet of Pakistani cricket was on display today. Their fielding, has rarely been their strong point but, going by the acrobatics of the young brigade in the field, that could well be the story of the past.

Led by the higly elastic, supple and Rhodes-like movements of Imran Nazir, Pakistan had the Sri Lankan batsmen on the run. Five of their batsmen ran themselves out in panic, resulting in their team not reaching even 200. From then on the match, of no consequence as both the teams have already qualified for the finals, had little left in it as a contest. Pakistan, never short of young talent, cruised to a seven8211;wicket victory with a lot to spare.

The hot and humid Dhaka weather relented a bit today. A lively breeze and clouds in patches in the sky came as a great relief to the players. Pakistan rested three of their key players 8212; Wasim Akram, Abdur Razzaq and Saeed Anwar 8212; and replaced them with Shabbir Khan, Shoaib Malik and Mohammed Akram. The former was banished from international cricket for suspect action but seems to have worked very hard on himself in trying for an impressive comeback minus his unfair8217; action.

All the three performed admirably making one wonder how Pakistan posses such a pool of talented youngsters. The Indians could do well to send a few specialists8217; to Pakistan to find out the reason behind Pakistan8217;s wealth of talent. It may prove to be a useful exercise given the pathetic state of their own cricket.

Once their fielders and bowlers did the restricting job, Pakistani batsmen, without much fuss or undue haste got to the target quite easily. Mohammad Wasim batted sensibly, showing a mature head on young shoulders while Yousuf Youhana made light of the Lankan bowling. Had Pakistan been chasing a bigger score he could have easily scored his second successive century of the tournament.

The Sri Lankans may have lost today8217;s match but the final could be a different ball game altogether.

SCOREBOARD

SRILANKA
Sanath Jayasuriya c Arshad b Mahmood 28 29b, 5 fours
Aravinda de Silva run out 2 6b
Marvan Atapattu c Nazir b Mahmood 62 105b, 3 fours
Mahela Jayawardene c Moin b Mahmood 2 12b
Russel Arnold run out 17 51b
Romesh Kaluwitharana run out 4 8b
Upul Chandana c Malik b Shabbir 46 57b, 2 sixes, 1 four
Chaminda Vaas c Shoaib b Afridi 7 13b
Kaushalya Weereratne run out 11 14b, 1 four
Muttiah Muralitharan run out 0 1b
Sajeewa de Silva not out 1
Extras: lb-1, w-4, nb-7 12
Total: 192 in 49 overs
Fall of wickets:1-16 A de Silva, 2-41 Jayasuriya, 3-47 Jayawardene, 4-97 Arnold, 5-105 Kaluwitharana, 6-167 Atapattu, 7-178 Chandana, 8-181 Vaas, 9-182 Muralitharan.

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Bowling: Shabbir Khan 9-0-40-1 Mohammad Akram 8-1-41-0 Azhar Mahmood 8-2-24-3 Arshad Khan 10-1-34-0 Shoaib Malik 9-0-46-0

PAKISTAN

I Nazir lbw S de Silva 15 1 four, 16b
M Wasim c Chandana b Jayasuria 44 4 fours, 111b
Y Youhana not out 90 8 fours, 2 six, 130b
Inzamam-ul-Haq c Arnold b S de Silva 27 1 four, 1 six, 31b
S Afridi not out 2 6b
Extras: b-5, lb-1, w-5, nb-4 15
Total for 2 wickets 193 in 48.2 overs
Fall of wickets:1-24 Nazir, 2-131 Wasim, 3-188 Inzamam

Bowling: C Vaas 7.2-0-25-0, S de Silva 6-0-34-2, Weeraratne 4-2-11-0, A de Silva 7-0-35-0, Muralitharan 10-2-18-0, U Chandana 7-0-35-0, S Jayasuriya 7-0-34-1

RESULT: Pakistan won by seven wickets with 1.4 overs to spare