Nail bitter, exotic, breathless moments and a lot more, this is what T20 cricket is all about. It’s amazing how a game can change in an over or two and suddenly the pendulum swings towards the opposition. If you thought that this series between the two sub continental sides would be anything less than that, then you were surely wrong. Although Sri Lanka is world T20 champions but Pakistan were clear favorites to win the series based on their current run of form.
The series got underway at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Pakistan’s Captain Shahid Afridi won the toss and elected to bat first. The batting lineup did not disappoint and posted a more than a decent total on the board of 175 runs courtesy thrilling and entertaining power hitting from Umar Akmal who proved all his critics wrong by scoring brisk 46 runs at a strike rate of almost 200. Interestingly Shoaib Malik and Ahmed Shehzad also scored exactly the same amount of runs i.e. 46 which is a unique feat for these Pakistan batsmen.
The Lankan batsmen stepped onto the field with the bats in their hands in order to chase down this highest ever target at this stadium but were jolted badly up front when they lost three wickets in quick succession. At that point in time it looked as if they would bow down easily but spirited knocks from Siriwardana and Kapugedera got the lions back in it but unfortunately it was not enough as Sri Lanka lost by 29 runs. Sohail Tanvir was handed over the man of the match award for picking up 3 crucial wickets and bowling miserly throughout the innings.
The focus now shifted towards the second T20 which was also held at the same venue. Sri Lanka in need of a win to square the series won the toss and elected to bat first in good batting conditions. The openers got them off to a decent start but couple of wickets in the middle over’s hampered their progress. But at this critical juncture Sri Lanka’s talented young players Jayasuria, Siriwardana and Kapugedera stepped it up once again and took their team to a respectable total of 172 runs. Kapugedera top scored with 48 runs of 37 balls. Malik was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan as he picked up 2 wickets for 16 runs.
Pakistan had a daunting task ahead of them as they are known to make a mess of target chasing. They had the worst start ever as they lost both the openers in one over and subsequently were reduced to 40/5 in the 8th over. In came Shahid Afridi and once again the onus was on him to deliver and finally the much awaited knock from the skipper came in his typical style as he spanked the ball to all parts of the field including 4 massive sixes. This brought Pakistan back in it but at this point Afridi was clean bowled by the young Jayasuria. It looked as if all hope was lost as Pakistan still needed 60 odd runs inside 5 over’s. But as they say “Cometh the time, cometh the man” as Anwar Ali jumped into the Arena. Not much was expected of him but he had other ideas. He started to dominate the Lankan bowlers from the offset and struck some might blows which helped Pakistan to almost cross the line but he was out caught behind off the bowling of Malinga. He accumulated 46 runs in just 17 balls which was the highest score by a number 9 batsman in history of T20 internationals. Left handed youngster Imaad Wasim then made sure that the match did not get out of their grasp as he finished off the chase with a mighty six over long on and that was it Pakistan had done the improbable and won the series 2-0. Anwar Ali was declared man of the match while Shoaib Malik was declared Man of the series.
STATISTICS
IMPACT ON RANKINGS!
The series win has meant that now Pakistan have jumped two spots in ICC T20 rankings and now sitting pretty at number 3. Sri Lanka is still at the top of the tree as they are the defending champions and have kept a long margin with the second ranked side that is Australia.
VERDICT!
This series was a mouth watering one and both teams showcased loads of new talent and the world witnessed some pretty impressive and exciting young breed from both Pakistan and Sri Lanka. With the T20 world cup round the corner Pakistan team is shaping up quite nicely and team looks jelled up under Afridi. A blend of youth and experience is doing this side wonders right now and they would hope that it continues for longer periods of time.
As far as Sri Lanka are concerned, their young players like Sriwardana ,Jayasuria and Kaushal Perera and the rest of the bunch are hugely talented and if they can somehow manage to support the senior pros in the side such as Mathews and Dilshan, they would be a formidable side in the coming T20 world cup. They just need to put in the hard yards and stay focused on the game.
