07 October 2004	Thursday	21 Shaban 1425

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KARACHI, Oct 6: A superb unbeaten century by Yousuf Youhana, coupled with a brilliant all-round performance by Shoaib Malik, carried Pakistan into the final of the triangular tournament with an emphatic eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka here on Wednesday.

Pakistan had earlier defeated Zimbabwe twice, the third team in the competition, and now await the outcome of Sri Lanka's games against the African nation in Rawalpindi on Saturday and Monday.

Appropriately, Pakistan's 600th appearance in One-day International cricket was based around a National Stadium record partnership between Malik and the flawless Youhana.

The pair added exactly 200 in 224 balls for the unbroken third-wicket stand, usurping the previous highest partnership of 182 (also for the third wicket) between West Indian greats Desmond Haynes and Viv Richards during the 1987 World Cup game against Sri Lanka.

Chasing a target of 233 on a sweltering afternoon, Pakistan lost Yasir Hameed and Salman Butt in successive overs after the openers had put on 33. But Malik and Youhana came together to ensure Pakistan won convincingly with eight balls to spare.

Malik, who had earlier grabbed three for 32 in another telling spell of off-spin, impressed with a measured 103-ball 86. The 22-year-old was deservedly adjudged Man-of-the-Match.

Youhana, however, was not to be left behind. The 30-year-old right-hander became the sixth Pakistani to reach 6,000 ODI runs when he nudged Tillekeratne Dilshan for his 66th run. Only current skipper Inzamamul Haq (10112), Saeed Anwar (8823), Javed Miandad (7381), Salim Malik (7170) and Ijaz Ahmed (6564) had scored more runs for the country.

The Pakistan vice-captain celebrated his notable achievement by becoming the first home player to score a century at this venue against Sri Lanka. Youhana's unbeaten 107 was his 10th hundred in 178 matches and second against the Lankans.

Youhana, who faced 121 balls, mastered the conditions with typical nudges and glides as he grafted along. Malik, now getting used to bat at No 3, stroked three fours during his 103-ball stay at the crease.

On a pitch, which was not conducive for stroke making, the batsmen had to grind for runs. Youhana managed to strike seven of the 24 fours hit in the entire match which yielded a moderate 465 runs in 98.4 overs. Sanath Jayasuriya succeeded in hitting five boundaries during his top-score of 53 in Sri Lanka's total of 232 for nine.

The 20,000 crowd saw a mere four sixes all day in this form of cricket where in normal circumstances big hitting is order of the day. Only Youhana, Malik, Jayasuriya and Farveez Maharoof were lucky enough to send the ball over the fence.

Marvan Atapattu misread the conditions when he opted to bat first after calling correctly at the toss. Both Mohammad Sami and Rana Naveedul Hasan forced Avishka Gunawardene to play onto his leg stump with his first delivery.

Atapattu then combined with the experienced Jayasuriya to offset the early setback while putting on 109 in 144 balls for the second wicket. Jayasuriya, the 35-year-old former Sri Lankan skipper, welcomed Shoaib Akhtar into the attack by flicking the fast bowler for an effortless six over deep backward square-leg on his way to 53 off 85 balls.

At the halfway stage, Sri Lanka had posted 113 runs on the board. But Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik gradually brought the scoring rate down. Pakistan got an unexpected breakthrough thanks to Shoaib Malik's sharp presence of mind.

Jayasuriya, backing up at the bowler's end, was run out when Malik stopped an Atapattu straight drive, turned around and flicked the ball onto the stumps in one motion on his follow through.

Atapattu fell four short of what would have been his 50th ODI fifty when he chipped Malik to Inzamamul Haq at mid-wicket. Mahela Jayawardene unwisely attempted to cut Malik against the spin and perished for 18.

Dilshan, who never looked at ease, then edged Malik to Younis Khan behind the wickets. The batsman looked aghast when Asad Rauf belatedly sent him on his way. However, TV replays the batsman might have been extremely unlucky.

Thereafter, it was a regular procession. Not even Inzamam's leaving the field for the day at the end of the 35th over, with a stomach disorder, failed to change Sri Lanka's luck as the hosts conceded only 67 runs off the final 14 overs.

Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka wicket keeper, tried vainly to give his side some hopes with a hard-fought 38 off 52 balls. Sami, who appeared off-colour against Zimbabwe, took two for 42 after a tidy opening spell of none for 19 in six overs. Shoaib Akhtar cut down his run-up following a 14-run first over, but still went for 46 runs in eight overs.

SCOREBOARD

SRI LANKA:

D.A. Gunawardene b Rana Naveed 1

S.T. Jayasuriya run out 53

M.S. Atapattu c Inzamam b S. Malik 46

K.C. Sangakkara b Sami 38

D.P.M.D. Jayawardene b S. Malik 18

T.M. Dilshan c Younis b S. Malik 4

U.D.U. Chandana b Afridi 9

W.P.U.J.C. Vaas b Shoaib 11

M.F. Maharoof b Sami 15

K.S. Lokuarachchi not out 4

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-11, W-14, NB-4) 33

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 50 overs) 232

FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-113, 3-129, 4-165, 5-177, 6-194, 7-196, 8-222, 9-232.

DID NOT BAT: D.N.T. Zoysa.

BOWLING: Mohammad Sami 10-1-41-2 (2w); Rana Naveedul Hasan 7-0-30-1; Shoaib Akhtar 8-0-46-1 (3nb, 2w); Shahid Afridi 10-0-42-1 (2w); Abdul Razzaq 5-0-26-0 (1nb); Shoaib Malik 10-0-32-3.

PAKISTAN:

Salman Butt c Atapattu b Zoysa 17

Yasir Hameed lbw b Vaas 13

Shoaib Malik not out 86

Yousuf Youhana not out 107

EXTRAS (LB-6, W-4) 10

TOTAL (for two wkts, 48.4 overs) 233

FALL OF WKTS: 1-33, 2-33.

DID NOT BAT: Inzamamul-Haq, Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Rana Naveedul Hasan, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami.

BOWLING: Vaas 10-0-24-1; Zoysa 8-0-31-1 (3w); Maharoof 7.4-0-41-0 (1w); Lokuarachchi 6-0-36-0; Jayasuriya 7-0-40-0; Chandana 4-0-31-0; Dilshan 6-0-24-0.

RESULT: Pakistan won by eight wickets.

UMPIRES: Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and M.R. Benson (England).

TV UMPIRE: Nadeem Ghauri (Pakistan).

MATCH REFEREE: J.J. Crowe (New Zealand).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Shoaib Malik.

NEXT MATCH: Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe at Rawalpindi on Saturday.