Pakistan win dress rehearsal

Paktel Cup: Pakistan v Sri Lanka
October 14, 2004 at Lahore

Pakistan continued their unbeaten streak in the Paktel Cup, defeating Sri Lanka by six wickets in the last of the round robin matches, and thus going into the final with an upper hand.

Inzamam-ul-Haq won the toss, and elected to bat first, as expected, because of the dew factor that comes into the picture while bowling in the second innings of day-night games.

Sri Lanka didn't get off to the best of starts, with Saman Jayatha, who has replaced the inconsistent Avishka Gunawardene in this series, and Sanath Jayasuriya looking out of sorts against a troubling opening spell from Mohammad Sami and Naved-ul-Hassan. They lasted only a while, before Sri Lanka were reduced to 26/2.

However, a determined partnership brought the Lankans back on track, that between skipper Marvan Atapattu and Kumar Sangakkara. The former went to score his 11th ODI century, however that wasn't without both batsmen providing enough chances to the Pakistani fielders, which they couldn't hold on to.

Tilakratne Dilshan and Upul Chandana raised the temp after their dismissal, to take the score to 293/6 in theirs 50 overs, definitely a satisfying total after the kind of start they got off too, but by no means a match-winning total.

Pakistan began their reply with a slow, but steady opening partnership between new-comer Salman Butt and Yasir Hameed, that added together 99 runs in 20 overs.

After the eventual dismissal of both batsmen within a short span, the in-form Shoaib Malik and Inzamam took over by storm, adding 71 runs off nine overs. Because of the increase in tempo, even after Malik's dismissal, Pakistan looked as if they would get to the target, with a minimum of risks.

Inzamam stayed unbeaten on 76 and Yousuf Youhana played a cameo 30, which took Pakistan safely to 294, thus maintaining their unbeaten record in the tournament.

The two teams will now meet in the final of the Paktel Cup on Saturday.

Sri Lanka 293 for 6 in 50 overs
MS Atapattu 111, KC Sangakkara 69, Naved-ul-Hasan 65/2
Pakistan 297 for 4 in 48.5 overs
Salman Butt 57, Shoaib Malik 56, Inzamam-ul-Haq 76*, WPUJC Vaas 62/2

Man of the Match: MS Atapattu (Sri Lanka)

Pakistan (5 points) beat Sri Lanka (1 point) by six wickets.

Posted by Sudeep