Player of the Match
Player of the Match
2556dThe Report by Abhishek Purohit

Chandimal, Mendis edge home in thriller

Dinesh Chandimal chose a thriller to end his half-century drought, guiding Sri Lanka home in the last over in the company of Ajantha Mendis

Match Centre

Statistics

Best performances - Batsmen

LD Chandimal
LD Chandimal
64(70) 1x4 - 1x6
Control %94%
  • Productive Shot
  • leg glance
  • 21 runs
  • 1x4 - 0x6
0 4 10 7 9 3 12 19
Misbah-ul-Haq
Misbah-ul-Haq
51(74) 2x4 - 1x6
Control %87%
  • Productive Shot
  • leg glance
  • 18 runs
  • 0x4 - 0x6
0 5 7 8 3 2 6 20

Best performances - Bowlers

SL Malinga
SL Malinga
O10
M0
R57
W4
Eco5.70
RHB
OFFLEG
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
Junaid Khan
Junaid Khan
O7.1
M0
R31
W3
Eco4.32
RHB
OFFLEG
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF

Match Details

Toss

Pakistan , elected to bat first

Player Of The Match

Player Of The Series

Series result

Pakistan won the 5-match series 3-2

Match number

Season

Hours of play (local time)

15.00 start, First Session 15.00-18.30, Interval 18.30-19.15, Second Session 19.15-22.45

Match days

27 December 2013 - day/night match (50-over match)

Reserve Umpire

Match Referee

Scorer: Gopi Rangarajan | Commentator: Rohan Sharma

Well that's it from the presentation ceremony. The Pakistan team are all smiles as they pose with the trophy. It was a terrific game that we had today, and I hope you all enjoyed it too. On behalf of the scorer, Gopi, this is Rohan Sharma saying good night and good luck!

Angelo Mathews, Sri Lanka captain: We were just good enough to win the game. Once again, a little disappointed with the batsmen who got starts but didn't go from there. Mendis came to the party, along with Chandimal, and got us over the line. We are at full strength for the Tests. We have Rangana Herath coming back, along with Mahela Jayawardene, so look forward to the series.

Misbah-ul-Haq strides forward to take the Cool & Cool cup

Mohammed Hafeez, Man of the Series: Want to thank all the supporters and well-wishers. They have been in my heart. Sad not to finish the series in a positive way, but we couldn't do what we wanted to do. Congratulations to the Sri Lankans for their victory. I was working on my technique, thanks to my analyst, and worked on a couple of things in the nets. Things started to really come back for me and I hope to do very well in the Tests coming up.

Dinesh Chandimal, Man of the Match: I'm over the moon. When I went into bat with two wickets down, it was never going to be easy on a pitch like this. Credit goes to Mendis at the end to help us get through. Sometimes I was a bit nervous. I tried to play my normal game and it worked out for me fortunately.

Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan captain: Team is really in good confidence and good shape. We were struggling in our batting line-up over the last year, but this series the batsmen came up good and have good confidence for the Test series. Yeah of course some of the experienced players coming back has helped. Asad Shafiq will help in the balance of the side, while Hafeez can help with both the ball and bat, and be our fifth bowler in the series.

(Prior conversation with presenter, Danny Morrison): Disappointed. We really fought well, and one spell really brought it back, but it just slipped in the last three overs. The pitch was a bit slow, but still we were 20-25 runs short. Anything over 250 would have been a good total. The bowlers did well to pull back the game, but a few lapses in the field cost us ultimately. The team is in good shape, especially the batting. A lot of new guys are coming in. The team is in good form and has good confidence. We have got to keep our basics right and do well in the Test series.

We will be back shortly for quotes from the match presentation

And Sri Lanka do it. After seemingly cantering to a win, they lost their way in the middle overs, with Misbah rotating the bowlers expertly to keep just the right level of pressure on the batsmen. A few untimely wickets, and more importantly, the reduction of boundaries, helped them get very close, so a lot of credit should go to them in regards to how they performed. With this result, Sri Lanka deny Pakistan a 4-1 result, with the series ending up 3-2 in their favour. The crowd definitely got their money's worth today!

49.4
4
Anwar Ali to Mendis, FOUR, and with a slap over the extra-cover boundary Mendis finishes it off, not really in style, but finishes it off, as this looked more agricultural than finesse.

Two needed off three. What a finish we have in store!

49.3
0
Anwar Ali to Mendis, no run, a slower ball outside off stump which Mendis fails to get bat on ball to

Leaves Mendis on strike to get two more off four balls

49.2
1
Anwar Ali to Chandimal, 1 run, lasers this fuller length ball down to sweeper cover for a single
49.1
0
Anwar Ali to Chandimal, no run, fails to get this back of a length delivery outside off

Anwar Ali has been entrusted to bowl the final over. Can he win it for Pakistan?

END OF OVER:
49 | 15 Runs | SL: 230/8 (3 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 4.69, RRR: 3.00)

  • Dinesh Chandimal63 (68b)
  • Ajantha Mendis15 (12b)
  • Umar Gul7.5-0-44-1
  • Saeed Ajmal10-0-43-2

Muhammad Shahid : "very much true "Catches win Matches""

48.6
1
Umar Gul to Chandimal, 1 run, plays this one uppishly down to long-on to retain strike for the next over. They need just 3 runs off 6 balls to make it 3-2 in the series
48.5
1
Umar Gul to Mendis, 1 run, bowls a steepler which Mendis is able to work away down to deep fine leg

Sri Lanka 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st75TM DilshanMDKJ Perera
2nd38TM DilshanKC Sangakkara
3rd16KC SangakkaraLD Chandimal
4th8SMA PriyanjanLD Chandimal
5th29AD MathewsLD Chandimal
6th23LD ChandimalKDK Vithanage
7th5SMSM SenanayakeLD Chandimal
8th1SL MalingaLD Chandimal
9th40BAW MendisLD Chandimal