1949dThe Bulletin by Kanishkaa Balachandran

Sri Lanka maul Pakistan to win series

It was all over before the packed Gaddafi Stadium crowd could blink. Sri Lanka inflicted one of the biggest annihilations in ODIs as they trampled over a hapless Pakistan to dismiss them for 75 in response to 309

Match Centre

Statistics

Best performances - Batsmen

TM Dilshan
TM Dilshan
137(139) 10x4 - 0x6
Control %85%
  • Productive Shot
  • off side drive on front foot
  • 28 runs
  • 2x4 - 0x6
7 14 11 26 45 4 6 24
KC Sangakkara
KC Sangakkara
50(58) 2x4 - 0x6
Control %93%
  • Productive Shot
  • off side drive on front foot
  • 15 runs
  • 1x4 - 0x6
7 1 9 2 4 4 7 16

Best performances - Bowlers

KMDN Kulasekara
KMDN Kulasekara
O7
M2
R17
W3
Eco2.42
RHB
OFFLEG
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
T Thushara
T Thushara
O7
M1
R33
W3
Eco4.71
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

Player Of The Series

Series result

Sri Lanka won the 3-match series 2-1

Match number

Season

Hours of play (local time)

11.30 start, First Session 11.30-15.00 Interval 15.00-15.45, Second Session 15.45-19.15

Match days

24 January 2009 - day/night match (50-over match)

TV Umpires

Match Referee

Two comprehensive wins for Sri Lanka and they wrap up the series 2-1. Humiliation for Pakistan here; a capacity crowd in Lahore will return home disappointed after their home team capitulated in such a listless fashion. They succumbed to pace with Kulasekara and Thushara bowling them out of the game even before the 15th over. The spinners then cleaned up the tail to inflict a massive defeat for the hosts. A series win would have done wonders to Pakistan's confidence as they're hosting their first home series in a while. But the end result will sting them. They won the first match convincigly, but completely lost their way in the next two ODIs.

Their score of 75 is the lowest at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore.

Do accept our apologies for the momentary loss in commentary due to a technical problem here.

Just a few more minutes to go before the presentation. Just to give you guys an indication of how upset our Pakistani readers are. "Can we expect from Shoaib Malik and team management now to drop other seniors including, Misbah, Younis, Kamran and Afridi from the team immediately just like Tanvir and Akhtar were dropped this morning since they are all playing on their names and certainly not performing? "

The Prime Minister of Pakistan is also on the presentation podium. Wonder what he makes of his team's performance?

Tillakaratne Dilshan has deservedly won the Man-of-the-Match Award. He's also the Man of the Series with impressive performaces in each of the three games.

Dilshan: "It's a special feeling. The first few overs were difficult to deal with but as the pitch eased out w were able to score more freely. It's a great feeling to have helped my time to win the series."

Sarcastic cheers greet Shoaib Malik as he walks down to the podium.

Malik: "Credit to Sri Lanka for the way they played. We bowled well early on but faltered later. 310 was always going to be difficult to chase and the Sri Lankans bowled very well to beat us. Sohail Khan bowled well early on, but the key now is to learn from our mistakes. We are playing international cricket at home after a while, and it is important we hit the right areas when bowling on good pitches. Apologies to the Lahore crowd for disappointing them but I must thank them for turning up in such huge numbers."

Jayawardene: "After the first game we were disappointed but the guys showed a lot of character later on. We batted watchfully for the first few overs and cut loose later on. I can't say enough of the players: they deserve all the accolades. Dilshan made an excellent comeback and his experiment as an opener worked wonders. Hopefully, he be able to continue this form. Murali's done great as usual and he has a lot of good bowlers in the team around him. Hopefully he's get to the record sooner rather than later. We thank the support from the crowd, we've enjoyed touring Pakistan and we are looking forward to out return trip for the Test series."

The Prime Minister has a few words to say: "We thank the Sri Lankan team for showing solidairity with us. I pay tribute to the administration in Karach and Lahore to provide security to the teams. I also thank the people of Lahore, and will hope the Pakistani team will perform better in the future."

Well folks, the final match proved a bit of anti-climax. Pakistan have a lot of homework to do but nevertheless it was good to see international cricket return to the country. A win would have done wonders for the home team, but what's even more significant is that they are back playing on their turf once again. It's been an interesting series, with three comprehensive results. Kudos to Sri Lanka for fighting back so well. Pakistan too showed some bright signs: Sohail Khan bowled very well early on, and fellow fast bowlers Umar Gul and Ifikhar Anjum, despite a poor third ODI, were impressive in their first two games. Salman Butt batted well in Karachi, and Khurram Manzoor showed some positive signs in 80-odd in the first match.

That's all we have from here folks. Thats for tuning in and sending all your feedback. We do appreciate it. Until the next time, on behalf of everyone at Cricinfo, it's goodbye from Siddhartha Talya on the commentary, and Chaminda and Pradeep on the scoring duties. Adios!

22.5
W
Muralidaran to Sohail Khan, OUT, gone!! It's all over!! Murali gets his 500th victim, and he's only three away from the world record. Flighted on the off stump, really slow through the air, Sohail gets down on his knee to heave it over midwicket, misses it completely to find his off stump pegged back

Sohail Khan b Muralidaran 4 (14m 9b 1x4 0x6) SR: 44.44

22.4
0
Muralidaran to Sohail Khan, no run, tossed up on middle and off, pushed into the off side off the front foot
22.3
0
Muralidaran to Sohail Khan, no run, full on the off stump, pushed off the front foot to cover
22.2
1
Muralidaran to Saeed Ajmal, 1 run, tossed up on middle and leg, he charges down to Murali and drives it all along the ground to long-on
22.1
0
Muralidaran to Saeed Ajmal, no run, flighted outside off, reaches forward to defend it on the leg side

Good chance for Murali here

END OF OVER:
22 | 1 Run | PAK: 74/9 (236 runs required from 28 overs, RR: 3.36, RRR: 8.42)

  • Sohail Khan4 (6b)
  • Saeed Ajmal1 (6b)
  • Farveez Maharoof4-1-12-1
  • Muthiah Muralidaran1-0-1-1
21.6
0
Maharoof to Sohail Khan, no run, bouncer banged in short on middle and off, he ducks under it, though the ball didn't bounce as much as the bowler would have expected

Pakistan 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st4Younis KhanKhurram Manzoor
2nd1Salman ButtKhurram Manzoor
3rd12Kamran AkmalKhurram Manzoor
4th0Shoaib MalikKhurram Manzoor
5th1Shoaib MalikMisbah-ul-Haq
6th4Shahid AfridiShoaib Malik
7th46Shoaib MalikUmar Gul
8th0Shoaib MalikIftikhar Anjum
9th4Iftikhar AnjumSohail Khan
10th3Saeed AjmalSohail Khan