A clinical 129-run win by SL. They struck early, removing Manzoor, Younis, and Misbah in quick succession, with just 17 on the board. Shoaib Malik and Salman Butt were involved in a fighting century-stand, but after Malik was caught-behind, Pakistan collapsed. In all, just three of their batsmen managed to reach double figures, and unlike yesterday when they handled spinners well, they crumbled to spin this time, with Mendis, Murali and Jayasuriya taking seven wickets between them.
The last seven wickets fell for 36 runs - all to spinners. Malik may not necessarily have erred in opting to field first given the ease with which his team chased down 220 yesterday, but his fast bowlers Shoaib and Tanvir performed miserably. They also lost early wickets- Younis and Misbah to poor shots - and their middle-order simply failed to resist after Malik and Butt had led the recovery.
Mahela broke the record for most catches taken in ODI's; he went Mohammad Azharuddin's 156 when he caught Butt at short cover. Murali is just two short of 500 ODI wickets; he'll hope to reach that mark in Lahore on the 24th.
Dilshan is the Man of the Match.
"I got a good start and I tried to bat till the 30th-35th over after Jayasuriya got out. The pitch did a bit early and eased out as the innings progressed."
Shoaib Malik: "The wicket was good, but our bowlers didn't hit the right areas. It's difficult to chase 290 with the spin attack they have and we lost too many early wickets. We look forward to the final and we'll try and play to our full strength."
Jayawardene: "We pulled our socks up today and I'm proud of the way we fought back. We kept bowling well at them and created opportunities; our fast bowlers did well by getting early wickets and made it easier for the spinners to do the job later."
That's all we have from here. Thanks for all your e-mails and do tune into our live coverage of the decider on the 24th. Until then, it's goodbye from Siddhartha Talya on the commentary and Manoj and Chaminda de Silva on the scoring duties. Adios!
Iftikhar Anjum lbw b Mendis 5 (16m 13b 1x4 0x6) SR: 38.46
END OF OVER:34 | 6 Runs | PAK: 160/9 (131 runs required from 16 overs, RR: 4.70, RRR: 8.18)
- Iftikhar Anjum5 (12b)
- Shoaib Akhtar0 (6b)
- Muthiah Muralidaran7-1-19-3
- Ajantha Mendis6-1-28-2
A slip, a silly point and a leg slip
END OF OVER:33 | (maiden) | PAK: 154/9 (137 runs required from 17 overs, RR: 4.66, RRR: 8.05)
- Shoaib Akhtar0 (6b)
- Iftikhar Anjum1 (6b)
- Ajantha Mendis6-1-28-2
- Muthiah Muralidaran6-1-15-3