COLOMBO: Pakistan coach Waqar Younis on Sunday hailed his players’ positive and attacking approach after they comprehensively defeated Sri Lanka in all three formats on the islanders’ home turf.

Pakistan clinched the second Twenty20 International against Sri Lanka in a sensational last-over finish by one wicket to take the series 2-0 on Saturday, capping a successful tour where they also won the Test series 2-1 and one-dayers 3-2.

Waqar said the victory had made him proud of his players, and the team was on the up.

“I would not say that we have become world beaters after winning the whole tour but I would say that we are heading in the right direction,” he said in Colombo. “I think the best thing on this tour was that the mindset of the players has changed towards positive cricket.”

The former fast bowler attributed the team’s recent success in Tests, where they are now ranked third in the world, to finding the right blend of youth and experience.

“I think for the last one year we have been well settled in Tests as seniors support the juniors and everyone knows how to perform their roles,” he said, singling out batsmen Younis Khan and Shan Masood and leg-spinner Yasir Shah for extra praise.

On the one-day series victory, Waqar said the introduction of fresh blood had helped Pakistan improve their fielding and shed the go-slow approach that had hindered them in recent times.

“Azhar Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan and Anwar Ali were outstanding, “he said.

“The change in world cricket was adopted by us, which was to smash the ball if it is there for a hit,” he added, referring to surging run-rates that have become a feature of one-day cricket following the arrival of the Twenty20 format.

Pakistan’s victory in the one-day series moved them from ninth in the rankings to eighth, thereby ensuring their qualification for the 2017 Champions Trophy in England.

Shahid Afridi and Anwar Ali played key roles as Pakistan recovered from 40-5 in the eighth over to surpass Sri Lanka’s challenging 172-7 with four balls to spare with Imad Wasim striking the winning six off left-arm seamer Binura Fernando.

Skipper Afridi led the way with a 22-ball 45 that included four sixes and a boundary, before Anwar smashed 46 off 17 balls in a match-winning knock that contained four sixes and three fours.

Imad, who remained unbeaten on 24, helped Anwar add 58 for the eighth wicket as the tourists recorded a heart-stopping win in front of a sell-out crowd of 35,000 at the R. Premadasa Stadium that briefly included Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena.

Pakistan won the first T20 match by 29 runs on Thursday.

Afridi played down his own contribution, focusing instead on the contributions of the younger players.

“I think 170 was chaseable, but we panicked early on,” he said. “Then came these awesome innings from Imad and Anwar. Hopefully they will continue to do well in the future also.

“I have an excellent bunch of guys, who have given me hope for the future.”

A disappointed Sri Lankan skipper Lasith Malinga, who conceded 40 runs in his four overs, rued his poor form with the ball.

“I should have bowled better,” the sling-arm fast bowling spearhead said. “But I am happy the way some of the younger players have performed. Sri Lanka has a good talent pool to pick from.”

Pakistan will next tour Zimbabwe, where they play three Twenty20s and as many One-day Internationals from September to October, while Sri Lanka host India in a three-match Test series starting from Aug 12.

Scoreboard

SRI LANKA:

M.D.K.J. Perera b Malik 19

T.M. Dilshan c Hafeez b Anwar 10

D.S.N.F.G. Jayasuriya c Imad b Sohail 40

D.M. de Silva b Afridi 14

N.L.T.C. Perera st Rizwan b Malik 1

T.A.M. Siriwardana c Mukhtar b Irfan 23

C.K. Kapugedera not out 48

M.D. Shanaka run out 7

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-7) 10

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 20 overs) 172

Fall of wkts: 1-24, 2-32, 3-61, 4-64, 5-90, 6-145, 7-172.

DID NOT BAT: B. Fernando, J.D.F. Vandersay, S.L. Malinga.

BOWLING: Anwar Ali 4-0-40-1 (1w); Sohail Tanvir 4-0-44-1 (1w); Shoaib Malik 3-0-16-2; Mohammad Irfan 4-0-31-1; Shahid Afridi 4-0-30-1; Imad Wasim 3521-0-8-0 (5w).

Pakistan:

Mukhtar Ahmed c Kapugedera b Fernando 4

Ahmed Shehzad b Fernando 7

Mohammad Hafeez run out 11

Shoaib Malik st K. Perera b Siriwardana 8

Umar Akmal run out 4

Mohammad Rizwan b N.L.T.C. Perera 17

Shahid Afridi b Jayasuriya 45

Imad Wasim not out 24

Anwar Ali c K. Perera b Malinga 46

Sohail Tanvir run out 1

Mohammad Irfan not out 1

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-5) 6

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 19.2 overs) 174

FALL OF WKTS: 1-11, 2-16, 3-33, 4-40, 5-40, 6-101, 7-107, 8-165, 9-167.

BOWLING: Fernando 3.2-0-33-2 (5w); Jayasuriya 4-0-37-1; N.L.T.C. Perera 4-0-27-1; Siriwardana 2-0-17-1; Vandersay 2-0-19-0; Malinga 4-0-40-1.

RESULT: Pakistan won by one wicket to win series 2-0.

UMPIRES: Ruchira Palliyaguruge and Raveendra Wimalasiri (both Sri Lanka).

TV UMPIRE: Ranmore Martinesz (Sri Lanka).

MATCH REFEREE: Javagal Srinath (India).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Anwar Ali.

MAN-OF-THE-SERIES: Shoaib Malik.

FIRST MATCH: Colombo, Pakistan won by 29 runs.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2015

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