COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (Reuters) – Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi again inspired his side with the ball for an 11-run victory to stretch a winning record against Sri Lanka in the World Cup and disappoint a partisan home crowd yesterday.
Afridi, who took his first World Cup five-wicket haul in the previous match against Kenya, captured four for 34 runs which included his 300th one-day international wicket when he dismissed Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara for 49.
Sri Lanka, chasing Pakistan’s total of 277-7, replied with 266-9. They have now lost seven times to their sub-continental neighbours in the World Cup, falling in 1975, 1983 (twice), 1987 (twice) and 1992.
Man-of-the-match Afridi said: “It was a big game and the boys all knew how big the game was.
“The boys were a little too relaxed and we need to tell them on this kind of stage they should not relax.
“It’s beautiful conditions, especially for bowlers. The wicket gives you turn and bounce as well, so it also helps the fast bowlers if they keep their line.”
His opposite number, Sangakkara, tried to look on the bright side.
“Any defeat is tough but quite a few positives to take. I thought we bowled pretty well on a pretty flat track. Unfortunately, we lost three wickets at the wrong time,” he said.
“We made it a bit difficult for ourselves by losing wickets. We got a good start, we needed a couple of blokes to kick on from there and keep batting for a longer time. Unfortunately Pakistan played very well.”
Sri Lanka got off to a good start with openers Upul Tharanga (33) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (41) putting together 76, but got bogged down in the middle overs and despite a late spurt towards the target fell agonisingly short.
Chamara Silva led a late onslaught with a top score of 57 and Nuwan Kulasekara hit a quick 24 off 14 balls, but Sri Lanka had left their run chase a little too late.
Pakistan stalwarts Younus Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq shared a century partnership after Afridi had won the toss and chose to bat first.
The pair came together after Pakistan were reduced to 105 for three and they provided a solid foundation for Pakistan’s eventual testing target. Earlier, Mohammad Hafeez (32) and Kamran Akmal were left wondering which of them was out after a mix-up left them both comically stranded at the same end.
Kamran Akmal scampered to the striker’s end for a quick single when Hafeez swept the ball behind the wicket facing off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan in the 13th over.
Hafeez did not move an inch, even after Sri Lanka wicketkeeper and skipper Kumar Sangakkara’s initial wayward throw flew well over Muralitharan.
Angelo Mathews successfully returned it to the bowler for the simplest of run outs of, it turned out, Hafeez.
Kamran Akmal did not last for much longer and he fell to Rangana Herath after being easily stumped for 39.
