Pakistan’s abject surrender hands SL ODI series

DAMBULLA: Seamer Thisara Perera claimed 4-34 and Tillakaratne Dilshan hit an unbeaten 50 as Sri Lanka trounced Pakistan by seven wickets in the final One-day International here on Saturday to clinch the series 2-1.

Dhammika Prasad chipped in with two wickets as the hosts bowled Pakistan out for 102 — Pakistan’s second lowest ever ODI total against Sri Lanka — and then surpassed the Duckworth-Lewis target of 101 in the 19th over of a one-sided game at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.

An hour-long rain interruption forced the umpires to reduce the game to 48-overs-a-side.

Sri Lanka galloped home in style to build on the 2-0 sweep in the preceding Test series and left Pakistan searching for answers ahead of the World Cup less than six months away.

Opener Upul Tharanga and Kumar Sangakkara fell cheaply before Mahela Jayawardene (26) and Dilshan put on a 41-run stand for the third wicket.

Dilshan cut Shahid Afridi to the fence to bring up his half-century and also seal his team’s easy win.

Perera used short deliveries to good effect to wreck the middle and lower order as Pakistan collapsed miserably in 32.1 overs.

Fawad Alam’s unbeaten 38 was the highest score in their embarrassing batting capitulation that saw only three batsmen reach double digits.

Sri Lanka then lost three wickets before romping home with Dilshan scoring with the kind of fluency none of the Pakistani batsmen could display.

The low total ruined any hopes Pakistan had of snatching a dramatic win with the help of their spin spearhead Saeed Ajmal, who was back after missing the previous two matches to have his bowling action tested.

Saeed had flown to Brisbane, Australia, for the tests after his action was reported by the umpires during the Test series. He is allowed to play on until the results of the tests are made known.

He picked up the wicket of Jayawardene, caught at slip, but Sri Lanka were only one run away from victory at that stage.

Earlier, Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq was left to rue his decision to bat first as his team lost the top half of their batting order to reach 55 in the 19th over.

Dhammika Prasad, who replaced the off-form Nuwan Kulasekara, dismissed openers Sharjeel Khan and Ahmed Shehzad cheaply to deny Pakistan a strong start and Lasith Malinga trapped Mohammad Hafeez leg before to further wreck the top order.

Hafeez was not convinced by the umpire’s call and asked for a review but could not get the decision overturned and the visitors slumped to 14-3 in the eighth over.

Their innings never got any momentum but Misbah and Fawad at least offered some resistance which was broken by Dilshan’s accurate throw from point that sent back the Pakistan captain.

Umar Akmal hit Perera for a six but the bowler exacted revenge with the next delivery which the batsman could only top edge to perish. It was Perera’s 100th wicket in 79 One-day Internationals.

Perera destroyed Pakistan’s middle order with his four-wicket burst while also taking a smart running catch at deep cover to send back Shahid Afridi, who had stepped out to hit leg-spinner Seekkuge Prasanna.

Reeling at 81-8 from 26 overs, the respite for Pakistan finally came in the form of rain which forced the players off.

Their resistance, however, did not last long once play resumed and spinner Rangana Herath rearranged Mohammad Irfan’s stumps with a flighted delivery to end their innings.

It was Pakistan’s lowest one-day total on Sri Lankan soil, falling below the 116 they made against New Zealand at the same venue in 2003.

Misbah said it was not a difficult wicket to bat on.

“There was a bit of tennis-ball bounce, but we should still have scored about 240-250 runs,” Misbah said. “We lost too many wickets early and could not get a decent total.”

PAKISTAN tail-ender Mohammad Irfan is bowled by Sri Lankan spinner Rangana Herath during the third One-day International on Saturday.—AFP

He hoped Pakistan will perform better in their next Test and one-day series against Australia in the United Arab Emirates in October.

“That is a really important series and we need to find the right combination ahead of the World Cup,” he said.

Sri Lanka’s captain Angelo Mathews said his team showed character to bounce back after losing the first match of the series in Hambantota.

“We had to pull up our socks after that loss and we did that quite well, “he said. “We gave Thisara [Perera] more opportunities in the series and he proved himself with both bat and ball.”

Sri Lanka next host England for a seven-match one-day series starting in November.

Scoreboard PAKISTAN:

Ahmed Shehzad c Perera b Prasad 10 Sharjeel Khan c Jayawardene b Prasad 0 Mohammad Hafeez lbw b Malinga 1 Misbah-ul-Haq run out 18 Fawad Alam not out 38 Umar Akmal c Malinga b Perera 7 Sohaib Maqsood c Sangakkara b Perera 7 Shahid Afridi c Perera b Prasanna 2 Wahab Riaz c Sangakkara b Perera 0 Saeed Ajmal c Jayawardene b Perera 6 Mohammad Irfan b Herath 5

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-6, NB-1) 8

TOTAL (all out, 32.1 overs) 102

FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-14, 3-14, 4-47, 5-55, 6-73, 7-76, 8-77, 9-88.

BOWLING: Prasad 6-0-25-2 (1nb, 3w); Malinga 7-2-17-1 (1w); Mathews 5-0-11-0; Herath 2.1-0-6-1; Perera 8-1-34-4 (2w); Prasanna 4-1-8-1.

SRI LANKA:

W.U. Tharanga b Irfan 14 T.M. Dilshan not out 50 K.C. Sangakkara c Hafeez b Wahab 2 D.P.M.D. Jayawardene c Hafeez b Saeed 26 A.D. Mathews not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-7, W-5) 12

TOTAL (for three wkts, 18.2 overs) 104

FALL OF WKTS: 1-46, 2-59, 3-100.

DID NOT BAT: A.D. Mathews, S.M.A. Priyanjan,

S. Prasanna, N.L.T.C. Perera, K.T.G.D. Prasad, H.M.R.K.B. Herath, S.L. Malinga.

BOWLING: Mohammad Irfan 7-0-37-1 (2w); Wahab Riaz 6-1-42-1 (2w); Saeed Ajmal 4-0-10-1 (1w); Shahid Afridi 1.2-0-8-0.