Time for quotes from the presentation. This is a long ceremony with awards for many different things. But Afridi has cleared house here. Five out of seven. Now onto the Man of the Match. Again Sahibzada it is. "I am feeling good," Afridi says. "Main thing is, my team won. what else could I want? Arafat and Tanvir bowled well, and after that we just put pressure on. Whatmore is doing a really good job. He has given me space to focus on my skills."
Sohail Tanvir is Man of the Series. "Ball seamed around, and that's what I wanted, especially coming back," Tanvir says. "I enjoyed bowling in these conditions. It was difficult for the batsmen to time the ball. I enjoyed it though."
"We had to give a few chances to Kapu and Udana," says Sri Lanka captain Mathews. "We lost our way in the middle. We were brilliant in the field, they all gave 100%."
Finally, let's hear from Hafeez: "A great team effort where everybody played his role. The partnership between Malik and Afridi was crucial for us. With the new ball Sohail Tanvir was brilliant. And then Afridi with the ball again. And Saeed Ajmal."
As Hafeez and Mahela Jayawardene share the cheques and trophy, we take your leave. Thanks for joining us, do tune in for the longer formats of the series too
This is the lowest total Pakistan have ever defended. Afridi will surely get Man-of-the-Match award, and that will take his tally to seven, which will give him solo lead after he had been tied with Jayasuriya and Pietersen at six.
"Still not convinced by Sami, but it is good to see another Wild Thing in international cricket. An economy rate of over 9 doesn't lie, this guy knows how to entertain." PDTM, I get the drift of what you say, but I am sick and tired - absolutely sick and tired - of Twenty20 turning fast bowlers into slower-ball bowlers, who bowl the quick delivery as a variation. I want pace, I want - as you say - "wild things". There has to be something wrong with a world that makes Dale Steyn go cross-seam first ball of the match
Anyway, what did Sri Lanka do here? I am struggling to explain. Sanga and Dilshan going well through decent cricketing shots, and all of a sudden Sanga plays a wild shot when there is no run-rate pressure. Then they promote Kula. And it was all downhill from there
AD Mathews c Shahid Afridi b Yasir Arafat 11 (28m 11b 0x4 0x6) SR: 100.00
Arafat to bowl the last over. This is as good as over
END OF OVER:19 | 4 Runs 1 Wkt | SL: 97/9 (26 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 5.10, RRR: 26.00)
- Angelo Mathews9 (9b)
- Isuru Udana1 (2b)
- Mohammad Sami3-0-16-3
- Saeed Ajmal4-0-20-1
Such was the confidence in him that Sami wasn't even going to bowl his four overs today. But he has provided us with a truly exciting two-over burst. High pace and accuracy, never mind those five wides
SMSM Senanayake c Sohail Tanvir b Mohammad Sami 1 (5m 4b 0x4 0x6) SR: 25.00
END OF OVER:18 | 3 Runs 1 Wkt | SL: 93/8 (30 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 5.16, RRR: 15.00)
- Angelo Mathews6 (6b)
- Sachithra Senanayake1 (3b)
- Saeed Ajmal4-0-20-1
- Mohammad Sami2-0-12-2
Senanayake in now
KS Lokuarachchi st †Shakeel Ansar b Saeed Ajmal 0 (4m 3b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
New batsman on strike. Pakistan to steal more dots?
Ajmal to bowl out. 33 off 18 now
END OF OVER:17 | 6 Runs 2 Wkts | SL: 90/7 (33 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 5.29, RRR: 11.00)
- Kaushal Lokuarachchi0 (2b)
- Angelo Mathews4 (4b)
- Mohammad Sami2-0-12-2
- Saeed Ajmal3-0-17-0
Kaushal Lokuarachchi comes in
NLTC Perera b Mohammad Sami 0 (2m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
HDRL Thirimanne c †Shakeel Ansar b Mohammad Sami 18 (20m 19b 2x4 0x6) SR: 94.73
"The problem with leaving Gul out is that you don't have an automatic choice at the death, which puts pressure on whoever the Prof chooses. May need to save Ajmal for the final over." PDTM, there is one final over by Ajmal I don't want to bring up
39 off 24 now. Sami comes back
