Tuesday’s cricket news will make headlines for all the right reasons – in a country where the game of cricket gives a rare moment to cherish as Pakistan hosts only a second major tournament in a span of over 12 months against a well reputed cricket team of Sri Lanka. Victory against Sri Lanka in the first one day match, is a buzzer to the cricket world that no matter how much Pakistan is deprived of playing competitive cricket, the team is still one of the best sides the world of cricket.
A convincing victory against Sri Lanka in the first one day international has put aside the misery faced by Pakistan cricket in the previous year - overshadowed by controversies and led by several cricket-less months had put a question mark on the future of cricket in the country. But the beginning of 2009 might just see the end of a miserable recent past.
Indeed Sri Lanka arrived in Pakistan having played more matches in 2008 than the hosts – but the old say is “quantity is no match for quality.”
An undoubtedly gorgeous weather in Karachi laid the foundation for a good day of cricket. As it was, Sri Lanka playing with the dangerous duo of Murlitharan and Mendis, along with the sleekest of batsmen Jayawardena, Sangakkara, Dilshan and of course Jayasuriya - a classy batsmen of modern era.
Sri Lanka was playing against a side recently showing signs of maturity and united after a prolong duration. In the absence of Muhammad Yousuf, Pakistan’s batting line up was slightly volatile, with only two in form batsmen veteran Younis Khan and promising Misbah-ul-Haq while opener Salman Butt had a rough time in Abu Dhabi against the West Indies even was struggling in the ongoing domestic season as he scored four duck in six innings.
But fortunately Pakistan’s bowling infantry was all charged up with the arrival of injure-friendly Shoaib Akhtar who would accompany the likes of talented Sohail Tanvir – who just loaded up with the experience of playing in Australian condition, Umer Gul and Rao Iftikhar- all three performed exceptionally well in Abu Dhabi.
Pakistan’s bowling attack added to Sri Lanka’s headache, as it was already facing its own share of problems with having scored only 227 runs as their highest total in their last 13 one day encounters. Therefore the math was simple for Pakistan, win the toss and choose to bat first, putting a decent total of around 250-275 on the board and exploit Sri Lanka’s struggling batsmen.
Despite the even recent records of the two teams, cricket analysts were claiming that the odds were slightly in Sri Lanka’s favor.
Fortunately Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first – with Jayasuriya, Dilshan and Sangakkara grilling fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar and Sohail Tanvir – both went wicket-less.
With the influx of more horde of cricket fan at the National Cricket Stadium of Karachi, Pakistan started warming up by putting an end to Sri Lanka’s onslaught. Being a weekday the cricket stadium was unfortunately far from a full house, but those who were present witnessed Sri Lankan batting line up collapsing yet again, in the hands of Umer Gul and Rao Iftikhar Anjum who seemed to have discovered an excellent line and length in his deliveries. Both Iftikhar and Gul did exceptionally well in a pitch which was not exactly friendly for fast bowlers, something captain Shoaib Malik might have dearly wanted as he chose to play with four seamers – a wise decision keeping in mind that the remaining players lacked appropriate experience. Poor fielding, with drop catches also did not stop Pakistan from restricting Sri Lanka to a modest total of 219 in a batting pitch.
Pakistan wins the match without the heroics of Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi which indeed a hint to gauge what kind of potential the team possesses. Though it’s sad that Sri Lanka is only playing three one day matches and not more, their arrival at this point of time is still a blessing for Pakistan.
A convincing victory against Sri Lanka in the first one day international has put aside the misery faced by Pakistan cricket in the previous year - overshadowed by controversies and led by several cricket-less months had put a question mark on the future of cricket in the country. But the beginning of 2009 might just see the end of a miserable recent past.
Indeed Sri Lanka arrived in Pakistan having played more matches in 2008 than the hosts – but the old say is “quantity is no match for quality.”
An undoubtedly gorgeous weather in Karachi laid the foundation for a good day of cricket. As it was, Sri Lanka playing with the dangerous duo of Murlitharan and Mendis, along with the sleekest of batsmen Jayawardena, Sangakkara, Dilshan and of course Jayasuriya - a classy batsmen of modern era.
Sri Lanka was playing against a side recently showing signs of maturity and united after a prolong duration. In the absence of Muhammad Yousuf, Pakistan’s batting line up was slightly volatile, with only two in form batsmen veteran Younis Khan and promising Misbah-ul-Haq while opener Salman Butt had a rough time in Abu Dhabi against the West Indies even was struggling in the ongoing domestic season as he scored four duck in six innings.
But fortunately Pakistan’s bowling infantry was all charged up with the arrival of injure-friendly Shoaib Akhtar who would accompany the likes of talented Sohail Tanvir – who just loaded up with the experience of playing in Australian condition, Umer Gul and Rao Iftikhar- all three performed exceptionally well in Abu Dhabi.
Pakistan’s bowling attack added to Sri Lanka’s headache, as it was already facing its own share of problems with having scored only 227 runs as their highest total in their last 13 one day encounters. Therefore the math was simple for Pakistan, win the toss and choose to bat first, putting a decent total of around 250-275 on the board and exploit Sri Lanka’s struggling batsmen.
Despite the even recent records of the two teams, cricket analysts were claiming that the odds were slightly in Sri Lanka’s favor.
Fortunately Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first – with Jayasuriya, Dilshan and Sangakkara grilling fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar and Sohail Tanvir – both went wicket-less.
With the influx of more horde of cricket fan at the National Cricket Stadium of Karachi, Pakistan started warming up by putting an end to Sri Lanka’s onslaught. Being a weekday the cricket stadium was unfortunately far from a full house, but those who were present witnessed Sri Lankan batting line up collapsing yet again, in the hands of Umer Gul and Rao Iftikhar Anjum who seemed to have discovered an excellent line and length in his deliveries. Both Iftikhar and Gul did exceptionally well in a pitch which was not exactly friendly for fast bowlers, something captain Shoaib Malik might have dearly wanted as he chose to play with four seamers – a wise decision keeping in mind that the remaining players lacked appropriate experience. Poor fielding, with drop catches also did not stop Pakistan from restricting Sri Lanka to a modest total of 219 in a batting pitch.
Pakistan wins the match without the heroics of Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi which indeed a hint to gauge what kind of potential the team possesses. Though it’s sad that Sri Lanka is only playing three one day matches and not more, their arrival at this point of time is still a blessing for Pakistan.
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