Statistics
Best performances - Batsmen
- Productive Shot
- off side drive on front foot
- 51 runs
- 7x4 - 0x6
Scorer: S Balasubramanian | Commentator: Siddarth Ravindran
It's a draw. The captains have decided this is going to be a draw. It is a more exciting day than I expected at the start, Angelo Mathews and Kuamr Sangakkara seemed to have completely killed off the game in the first session, but the tail collapsed after lunch, and some enterprising batting from Pakistan helped set up a declaration. Still, this was a very good track for batting even on the final day, and there was a very slim chance that Sri Lanka would be bowled out in a session.
James: "Draw: pity. I'll have to do some work before the England game starts!"
Post-match presentation:
Man of the Match is Junaid Khan, for his five-for. Always nice to see the bowlers get recognised for efforts on a placid track. Misbah translates for Junaid: " He was bowling well in the last match as well, he is happy with his performance and his rhythm. There wasn't any help in the wicket, the plan was simple, just bowl wicket-to-wicket, and that worked."
Misbah: "Lot of positives in this match, the way the batting performed, Hafeez got a century, Taufeeq got some runs, Azhar Ali also, so our batsmen are in form." He also praises Junaid for his five-for on a flat pitch. "We will take a lot of confidence from this match."
Mahela Jayawardene: "The monsoon was delayed by a few weeks, Sri Lanka needed rain. We know what a quality side Pakistan is, we knew they will come strong at us. It has been a good effort from the boys. the mindset should be positive going into Pallekele. I know there's a big mokey on our back, we haven't won a Test series in a while."
That's about it from us today, here's George Binoy's report of the day is here. Thanks for all the mails, see you soon.
Russ: "What are the chances of getting extra overs? Your scorecard says 'Minimum overs' can we have more? What about to make up for the lost weather, or if they bowl spin do they play to a certain time rather than number of overs?" I think play can go on till 6pm, that's another hour. I suppose you can bowl how many ever overs you want in that time.
Mahela Jayawardene is a good batsman and comes across as a thoughtful, astute cricketer in most of his public pronouncements
Mahela Jayawardene on why Sri Lanka decided to settle for a draw in Pallekele, and the factors that helped his side beat Pakistan
Not surprisingly, a question I was often asked, especially in the smaller towns like Hambantota, Galle and Kandy, was "are you from Pakistan?"
How the players fared during the Tests between Sri Lanka and Pakistan
Five key factors and observations from the Test series between Sri Lanka and Pakistan