Player of the Match
Player of the Match

Match Centre

Statistics

Best performances - Batsmen

KC Sangakkara
KC Sangakkara
97(130) 7x4 - 3x6
Control %85%
  • Productive Shot
  • off side drive on front foot
  • 36 runs
  • 3x4 - 1x6
9 0 6 10 19 11 15 27
Azhar Ali
Azhar Ali
81(126) 4x4 - 1x6
Control %85%
  • Productive Shot
  • leg glance
  • 33 runs
  • 0x4 - 1x6
1 7 15 7 23 4 7 17

Best performances - Bowlers

NLTC Perera
NLTC Perera
O10
M1
R42
W4
Eco4.20
RHB
OFFLEG
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
SL Malinga
SL Malinga
O7
M0
R30
W2
Eco4.28
RHB
OFFLEG
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH

Match Details

Toss

Sri Lanka , elected to bat first

Player Of The Match

Series result

Sri Lanka led the 5-match series 2-1

Match number

Season

Hours of play (local time)

14.30 start, First Session 14.30-18.00 Interval 18.00-18.45, Second Session 18.45-22.15

Match days

16 June 2012 - day/night match (50-over match)

Reserve Umpire

Match Referee

Scorer: Gopi Rangarajan | Commentator: Sidharth Monga

END OF OVER:
45 | 6 Runs 1 Wkt | PAK: 199/10 (45 runs required from 30 balls, RR: 4.42, RRR: 9.00)

  • Azhar Ali81 (126b)
  • Thisara Perera10-1-42-4
  • Lasith Malinga7-0-30-2

So Sri Lanka have taken an unassailable lead through this dramatic comeback. Thanks everybody for joining us tonight. We look forward to your company on Monday. Cheers

Mahela Jayawardene walks up with cheers around. He says, "They put on a decent partnership. We needed to be patient, wait for our opportunity. The crowd went silent for a bit too, but with the first wicket they got behind us. I think it all changed with that aggressive over from Lasith. He is a matchwinner, and I put him under a lot of pressure by asking him to possibly bowl seven overs in a row. Also Kumar batted really well. Good to get him back in form. We are still short of our best game, but we'll take this. Thisara is improving every game, learning form each game. Kulasekara too. The whole unit knows their job pretty well."

Misbah-ul-Haq must be a crushed man. He is calm, though. he says, "It was pretty under control. Nothing was happening. The ball was coming on. We need a six an over, and everything was under control. I don't know what happened after that. Everybody is a professional, and everybody should take responsibility. Six an over, seven wickets in hand, Powerplay overs going on, everybody has to take the responsibility. And we can't drop players like Sangakkara."

Time now to listen from those who were out in the middle to tell us what actually went down there. Firstly Man of the Match, Thisara Perera, second in a row. He says: "A special day for me. My first hat-trick. My dream come true. Thank you Mahela Aiyya (for the catch that brought up the hat-trick). Thank you supporters too."

Eventually a comfortable win for Sri Lanka. They can't lose the series here. Azhar Ali carries his bat through, and is now limping off. If an Indian player from the eighties saw this Pakistan effort, he will not believe his eyes. Back then, Pakistan were never beaten until the fat lady had sung her lungs out. Nowadays it's the opposite: you can never say they are there until they have reached there and erected a flag to confirm they are there

Let's not take it away from Sri Lanka. Just look at the difference between the fielding of the two sides' bowlers. Kulasekara is diving and taking catches., Gul dropping sitters. Gul's beneficiary goes on to add 62 off 47 after he is dropped. Kulasekara's catch kicks off a collapse that puts card houses to shame.

Had this been a 35-over game, Pakistan would have won hands down. That happens too often with them nowadays. What is the problem? Concentration? Fitness? Endurance? Attitude? Dav Whatmore has enough to lose his hair about

44.6
W
Perera to Saeed Ajmal, OUT, and Sri Lanka are still diving and urgent. Bowled cross-seam, stops at him, and Ajmal lobs this towards mid-off. Thirimanne dives in front, and takes a low catch to finish this off

Saeed Ajmal c Thirimanne b Perera 12 (15m 14b 1x4 0x6) SR: 85.71

44.5
0
Perera to Saeed Ajmal, no run, short and wide, pulled away nicely, but finds midwicket, the only man inside the circle on the leg side
44.4
0
Perera to Saeed Ajmal, no run, length ball outside off, takes a thin edge on the drive, falls short of the keeper
44.3
1
Perera to Azhar Ali, 1 run, slower-ball full toss, swiped across for a single
44.2
1
Perera to Saeed Ajmal, 1 run, wide length ball again, but this time he finds sweeper-cover with the drive
44.1
4
Perera to Saeed Ajmal, FOUR, lovely shot. Ajmal showing his specialist batsmen how it is done. Length ball outside off, and he goes inside-out, and over extra cover

Pakistan 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st0Azhar AliMohammad Hafeez
2nd53Azhar AliAsad Shafiq
3rd113Azhar AliMisbah-ul-Haq
4th3Azhar AliUmar Akmal
5th7Younis KhanAzhar Ali
6th0Shahid AfridiAzhar Ali
7th0Azhar AliSarfaraz Ahmed
8th0Azhar AliSohail Tanvir
9th3Azhar AliUmar Gul
10th20Azhar AliSaeed Ajmal