Pakistan v Sri Lanka,4th day Crushing win for clinical Pakistan , 2nd Test 26-30 October , Dubai International Cricket Stadium

October 25, 2011 / Posted in  Pakistan, Sri Lanka

Pakistan's spinner Saeed Ajmal (L) celebrates with his teammate wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal

Pakistan were so clinical in finishing Sri Lanka off on the fourth day that you wondered if this was the same group of players that is known for losing its way in the final furlong. They remained patient and persistent even when fortune didn’t favour them or even when a late partnership held them up. The pitch with variable bounce and turn did the rest for them. Pakistan began the day 76 ahead with nine wickets to take, their bowlers shared the early spoils, and then Saeed Ajmal ran through the tail – no mean feat considering their recent travails with lower orders – to register his third five-for in Tests. The fielders turned up too, diving in desperation for every ball remotely within reach and not missing a single catch, and the batsmen made short work of the 94-run target.

Pakistan attacks are reputed to be mercurial and extravagantly talented, but it is an underrated virtue that stood out today – patience. The biggest test of their patience came last afternoon when Kumar Sangakkara and Tharanga Paranavitana enjoyed good fortune with edges not going to hand, and the good deliveries turning out to be too good to take the edges. The bowlers, though, kept it tight and did not go looking for magic balls. The rewards duly came.

They were helped by Sri Lanka’s failure to attempt to disrupt their rhythm by hitting out. Some help also came their way from the umpires. Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan fell lbw to decisions you couldn’t be sure of, but the balance was restored a bit – so to speak – when Angelo Mathews survived a pretty adjacent call. Mathews went on to delay Pakistan with yet another impersonation of the boy on the burning deck but, as with Paranavitana’s fifty, there was no sting in the innings to hurt Pakistan.

The two efforts didn’t prove to be the kind of denial that has recently led to Pakistan bowling’s wilting. Paranavitana did try to show some intent in the fourth over of the morning when he lofted Abdur Rehman over mid-on for four. Rehman had troubled all left-handed batsmen with his flat trajectory and accuracy, repeatedly hitting the rough outside their off stumps. Soon, though, Paranavitana saw Sangakkara walk back in disgust, and went back into his shell.

Sangakkara’s reaction seemed justified. He had taken a big stride in a forward defensive when Rehman got one to turn in extravagantly and hit him half inside the line of off. Even if the umpire Tony Hill adjudicated that Sangakkara was trying to hide his bat behind the pad, the ball turned massively, had a long way to travel, and in all likelihood would have missed leg.

Pakistan now turned the screw tighter. Umar Gul gave Mahela Jayawardene a stern examination with the ball holding its line outside off. Paranavitana hung on grimly against Ajmal’s turn. Runs were not even an afterthought. Their partnership added 18 in 11.3 overs. Jaywardene was sent back by a smart bit of bowling from Ajmal. The first big offbreak got Jayawardene trying extra hard to get outside the line of off. To the next delivery, Jayawardene premeditated a paddle from outside off, and Ajmal bowled the quicker offbreak that turns less, and went behind him to knock the leg stump out.

The under-pressure captain Dilshan was outside the crease when a swinging Junaid Khan delivery from round the stumps hit him in front of middle. Again, the ball was moving in and had a considerable distance to travel. In Junaid’s next over, though, Mathews padded up to one that hit him just outside off and would have taken off and middle.

Mathews was lucky to survive that, but even though he and Paranavitana defended for their lives, neither got rid of close-in catchers nor did they make the bowlers change their plans. The dangerous wicket-taking delivery with their name on it was lurking around all the time. Paranavitana found his end soon after lunch when Ajmal tossed up an offbreak that finally took a healthy edge and went straight to slip.

To compound Sri Lanka’s troubles, the new ball was due then and brought immediate results when Kaushal Silva top-edged Junaid. For a brief period after that Dhammika Prasad took the bowlers on and Pakistan backed off for a while. With Mathews he added 52 at four an over, but Pakistan got the chance to regroup during the tea break.

In the first over after the interval, Rehman cleaned Prasad up with an arm ball. Once again Pakistan had refused to wilt. The tail tried to steal valuable runs in the end, but Ajmal was too good for them. Mathews, who tried to farm the strike but didn’t go for the big hits, remained unbeaten.

Misbah, who had made all the correct moves this match, right from the team’s selection to the bowling changes, took the lead role in the huddle with what seemed like an impassioned speech. Not sure if he told Mohammad Hafeez he wanted Sunday off, but the opener came out in a positive mood with just 23 overs to go in the day. The ball still misbehaved, but after two fours in the first over and a huge six in Rangana Herath’s first over, you knew Hafeez had had enough of this heat. Azhar Ali joined the fun when he lofted Dishan over long-off. All in all, it was a pretty fine way to bring up their first Test win over Sri Lanka in five years, in the anniversary week of their maiden Test victory.

FULL SCORECARD

	Sri Lanka 1st innings		R	B	4s	6s	SR
	NT Paranavitana	c Misbah-ul-Haq b Umar Gul	6	29	0	0	20.68
	HDRL Thirimanne	lbw b Umar Gul	1	3	0	0	33.33
	KC Sangakkara	c Asad Shafiq b Abdur Rehman	78	122	11	0	63.93
	DPMD Jayawardene	c Misbah-ul-Haq b Umar Gul	6	4	1	0	150.00
	TM Dilshan*	c Misbah-ul-Haq b Junaid Khan	7	8	1	0	87.50
	AD Mathews	c †Adnan Akmal b Junaid Khan	19	42	3	0	45.23
	JK Silva†	lbw b Abdur Rehman	20	36	2	0	55.55
	KTGD Prasad	c †Adnan Akmal b Saeed Ajmal	7	29	1	0	24.13
	HMRKB Herath	c Younis Khan b Saeed Ajmal	29	67	2	0	43.28
	UWMBCA Welegedara	st †Adnan Akmal b Saeed Ajmal	48	127	4	2	37.79
	RAS Lakmal	not out	0	13	0	0	0.00
	Extras	(b 5, lb 7, nb 6)	18
	Total	(all out; 79 overs)	239	(3.02 runs per over)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	Umar Gul	19	2	78	3	4.10	(4nb)
	Junaid Khan	15	2	57	2	3.80	(1nb)
	Saeed Ajmal	26	9	45	3	1.73
	Abdur Rehman	17	5	40	2	2.35	(1nb)
	Mohammad Hafeez	2	0	7	0	3.50

	Pakistan 1st innings		R	B	4s	6s	SR
	Mohammad Hafeez	lbw b Prasad	33	63	4	0	52.38
	Taufeeq Umar	c †Silva b Prasad	27	75	3	0	36.00
	Azhar Ali	lbw b Dilshan	100	242	9	0	41.32
	Younis Khan	b Dilshan	55	103	2	1	53.39
	Misbah-ul-Haq*	c Jayawardene b Welegedara	41	113	2	1	36.28
	Saeed Ajmal	c Mathews b Welegedara	20	51	1	0	39.21
	Asad Shafiq	c Jayawardene b Prasad	59	101	4	1	58.41
	Adnan Akmal†	c †Silva b Dilshan	41	80	4	0	51.25
	Abdur Rehman	b Herath	0	12	0	0	0.00
	Umar Gul	lbw b Herath	2	3	0	0	66.66
	Junaid Khan	not out	0	7	0	0	0.00
	Extras	(b 10, lb 10, w 2, nb 3)	25
	Total	(all out; 141.1 overs)	403	(2.85 runs per over)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	UWMBCA Welegedara	29	7	79	2	2.72	(1w)
	KTGD Prasad	32	2	104	3	3.25	(3nb)
	HMRKB Herath	37	5	89	2	2.40
	RAS Lakmal	24	8	54	0	2.25	(1w)
	TM Dilshan	19.1	1	57	3	2.97

	Sri Lanka 2nd innings		R	B	4s	6s	SR
	NT Paranavitana	c Younis Khan b Saeed Ajmal	72	239	4	0	30.12
	HDRL Thirimanne	b Mohammad Hafeez	8	45	0	0	17.77
	KC Sangakkara	lbw b Abdur Rehman	30	99	0	0	30.30
	DPMD Jayawardene	b Saeed Ajmal	5	34	0	0	14.70
	TM Dilshan*	lbw b Junaid Khan	3	5	0	0	60.00
	AD Mathews	not out	52	143	5	1	36.36
	JK Silva†	c Saeed Ajmal b Junaid Khan	8	20	1	0	40.00
	KTGD Prasad	b Abdur Rehman	33	48	4	0	68.75
	HMRKB Herath	c Misbah-ul-Haq b Saeed Ajmal	15	15	2	0	100.00
	UWMBCA Welegedara	lbw b Saeed Ajmal	4	4	1	0	100.00
	RAS Lakmal	b Saeed Ajmal	8	9	2	0	88.88
	Extras	(b 14, lb 3, nb 2)	19
	Total	(all out; 109.5 overs)	257	(2.33 runs per over)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	Umar Gul	15	3	39	0	2.60	(1nb)
	Junaid Khan	17	4	38	2	2.23	(1nb)
	Mohammad Hafeez	14	2	30	1	2.14
	Abdur Rehman	33	7	65	2	1.96
	Saeed Ajmal	30.5	9	68	5	2.20

	Pakistan 2nd innings (target: 94 runs)		R	B	4s	6s	SR
	Mohammad Hafeez	not out	59	64	5	2	92.18
	Taufeeq Umar	b Herath	1	9	0	0	11.11
	Azhar Ali	not out	29	72	0	1	40.27
	Extras	(b 4, lb 1)	5
	Total	(1 wicket; 24.1 overs)	94	(3.88 runs per over)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	KTGD Prasad	3	0	23	0	7.66
	UWMBCA Welegedara	2	1	1	0	0.50
	HMRKB Herath	10.1	2	29	1	2.85
	TM Dilshan	9	0	36	0	4.00

On the 59th anniversary of their first Test win, Pakistan’s fast bowlers moved on sensationally from the demoralising fielding debacle in Abu Dhabi, but the spinners didn’t enjoy such good fortune. Even though Misbah-ul-Haq took three slip catches off the quicks, Taufeeq Umar dropped Kumar Sangakkara on 27 and Younis Khan reprieved Rangana Herath off the first ball he faced. Consequently 73 for 5 became 154 for 6, and 154 for 8 turned into 239 all out. However, the early damage was so severe that the day still belonged to Pakistan, especially because the openers brought the deficit under 200 in the nine testing overs bowled at them.

That the successful completion of regulation catches came as a huge relief in the morning tells the story. Three days after they had been ground into the Abu Dhabi dust thanks largely to their own fielders, Umar Gul and Junaid Khan somehow found the heart to create opportunity after opportunity once again. It was a new-ball pitch, and the two hit the seam with regularity to take five wickets in the first session.

Both teams misread the track to an extent. Pakistan dropped the big-hearted Aizaz Cheema in favour of left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman. Expecting a flat track, Sri Lanka chose to bat first. As it turned out, with the ball seaming around in the first session, Gul and Junaid had to make up for the absence of the third seamer with 10-over spells before lunch, including a wicket in the last over of the session.

The Sri Lanka top order was left with the task of seeing the new ball off. While not quite a demon, the pitch had enough seam and variable bounce in it to keep the Pakistan fast bowlers in business. True to their nature, they exploited every bit of life on offer. Gul got the ball to swing into the left-handed top three, and on the odd occasion got it to seam away after shaping up to swing in. The variable bounce was obvious from how two early edges didn’t carry to the cordon, and how on two occasions Gul missed out on lbws because of extra bounce.

The top order bar Sangakkara came up short. Both Lahiru Thirimanne and Tharanga Paranavitana made the instinctive correction of planting the front foot across to cover the movement, leaving them prone to the balls moving in. Thirimanne survived one such shout because of the height, but was trapped dead plumb immediately after. Paranavitana played himself into a shell before finally playing a reckless cut off Gul. At first slip, Misbah held the ball close to his chest. Finally someone other than the wicketkeeper had taken a catch in 178 overs of bowling.

More chances would soon come. Mahela Jayawardene got the classical Gul delivery that angled in, pitched short of a length, drew him into the shot, then held its line, and took a healthy edge. Misbah was there to accept the low catch again. Dilshan played a loose punch outside off to give Misbah his third. Junaid’s contribution to the dismissal cannot be overstated, though. In his sixth over, he went round the stumps, angled the ball in, making Dilshan play, and the open face did the rest.

At 45 for 4, after six overs each for the new-ball bowlers, Pakistan would have wished they had Cheema to bowl first change. In his absence, Gul and Junaid put in the extra hours. After Gul’s unbroken 10-over spell, Junaid came back to trouble Mathews from round the stumps. Even as Mathews walked down the track to counter the movement, both his edges were beaten repeatedly until he nicked Junaid to Adnan Akmal, the only catching man Pakistan haven’t had to worry about.

In between, Sangakkara played a rare loose shot, an uppish square-drive off Ajmal, but Taufeeq was late to attempt a high catch to his left at backward point. Missing his partner in crime from the first Test, the injured Prasanna Jayawardene, Sangakkara had no option but to score as many as possible before he was left stranded. He scored 49 of the 76 runs that came during his time after lunch.

Even though Rehman trapped the debutant keeper Kaushal Silva to end a 54-run partnership, the pitch had settled down and the ball had become soft. Pakistan stopped trying to get Sangakkara out, but at the same time they were lousy enough to forget to bring the field up for the last ball of an over. Sangakkara gladly retained the strike, but exposed Dhammika Prasad to Saeed Ajmal for four balls of the next over. Prasad had no clue which way Ajmal was turning the ball, and despite a customary drop from Mohammad Hafeez, a thick edge from him was accepted by Akmal. Sangakkara took a risk against the first ball of the next over, but holed out to long-on. It could have become three wickets in four balls, but Younis Khan let through a low chance from Herath.

The highest partnership of the innings, 75 for the ninth wicket, followed. Chanaka Welegedara and Herath fought bravely after tea, taking blows on their bodies, and putting behind them the plays and misses. Welegedara in particular drove well through the covers, hooked Gul for a six during a heated over, and slogged Abdur Rehman for another even as he fought cramps. He added 48 to his career 67 runs. Ajmal, though, kept coming at them, and made sure Sri Lanka were again dismissed inside the first day.

Pakistan wasted the opportunity to go 1-0 up in Abu Dhabi by dropping several catches in Sri Lanka’s second innings. Sri Lanka pulled off a great escape, wiping out a 314-run deficit by batting more than two days to save the Test. So who possesses that intangible advantage – momentum – as the teams prepare for battle in Dubai?

Tillakaratne Dilshan said firmly that his team held the edge. He would, of course. Having been pushed into the tightest of corners, they found a way out, through the resolute batting of Kumar Sangakkara and Prasanna Jayawardene. However, the rest of their batsmen, with the exception of Angelo Mathews, failed in both innings. So there’s no real reason for the others to go to Dubai with increased confidence. The greater worry, though, is their bowling attack, which managed to take only seven Pakistan wickets in 184.4 overs on a pitch that was not especially flat. And a flat one will be on offer sooner or later in the UAE.

************************************

Tillakaratne Dilshan wants a stronger performance from his batsmen

Pakistan, on the other hand, dominated four days of the Test only to waste all their hard work through a spate of dropped chances that allowed both Sangakkara and Prasanna Jayawardene to bat for much longer than they should have. Pakistan’s batsmen found run-scoring easy against an ineffective Sri Lankan attack, but it was the performance of their bowlers that will have encouraged them. The fast bowlers found movement and the spinners extracted turn to dismiss Sri Lanka for 197, a first-innings total far below par on that pitch.

Even in the second innings, when batting appeared easier, they created plenty of chances. It wasn’t their fault their fielders didn’t take them. The challenge for Pakistan, however, will be to summon the energy to do it all over again, in conditions as hot and on a pitch that might not be as responsive.

Form guide

Sri Lanka: DDDLD
Pakistan: DWWLD

Spotlight

Back-to-back Tests are tough on the fitness of players in most conditions, but the intensity of the challenge rises significantly when they are played in the fierce heat of the desert. Pakistan’s fast bowlers had plenty of work to do in Abu Dhabi, and if they can produce a similar effort – challenging Sri Lanka with pace, movement and accuracy – it will be a testament to their fitness and talent.

With Angelo Mathews not bowling, Sri Lanka had only a four-bowler attack, plus part-timer Dilshan, in Abu Dhabi, of which Rangana Herath was the solitary specialist spinner. He toiled for 63.4 overs but could pick up only three Pakistan wickets. Sri Lanka will need more from their most-experienced bowler, around whom the fast bowlers will have to be rotated. To his credit, though, Herath did control the run-flow effectively.

Team news

Taufeeq Umar, who batted 12 hours for a double-century in Abu Dhabi, had a finger injury during the Test that prevented him from fielding in the slips. Interim coach Mohsin Khan said Umar Gul also had a few niggles, but nothing serious. Both should be fit to play, and if there are no other fitness issues, expect Pakistan to name an unchanged XI.

Pakistan (likely): 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Taufeeq Umar, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Adnan Akmal (wk), 8 Umar Gul, 9 Aizaz Cheema, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Junaid Khan

Sri Lanka could tinker with their bowling attack, considering the one used in Abu Dhabi struggled to make an impact. Nuwan Pradeep went wicketless on debut. Their bowling bench-strength comprises fast bowler Dhammika Prasad and offspinner Suraj Randiv. The inability of Mathews to bowl severely affects the balance of their team because there is space for only four specialist bowlers and no allrounder.

Sri Lanka (likely): 1 Tharanga Paranavitana, 2 Lahiru Thirimanne, 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), 8 Nuwan Pradeep/Dhammika Prasad/Suraj Randiv, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Chanaka Welegedera, 11 Suranga Lakmal.

Pitch and conditions

The temperatures are expected to be in the mid-30s but the pitch temperature will be a few degrees higher. Tillakaratne Dilshan said he expected the pitch to have more bounce than the one in Abu Dhabi did. “A good test wicket,” he called it.

Stats & Trivia

There were four hundreds scored in Dubai’s maiden Test, when Pakistan played South Africa last year. In the second innings, the two teams scored an aggregate of 661 runs for the loss of five wickets; in the first, they scored 628 for the loss of 20. Three out of four hundreds were scored in the second innings.

Since the beginning of 2009, Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan have added five century partnerships in seven innings. Their partnerships are: 130, 186*, 3, 142, 118, 100, 8* – 687 runs at 137.40.

Kumar Sangakkara needs 32 to equal Inzamam-ul-Haq’s record for most runs scored in Tests between these two teams. Inzamam scored 1559 in 31 innings; Sangakkara has 1527 in 21, at an average of 80.36.

Quotes

” After such a [bad] performance in the field, we got two days so we have worked really hard on that, let’s hope for the best in the second test”
Misbah-ul-Haq on Pakistan’s catching.

“We had discussions on which area to improve and did that in training sessions. As a batting unit we are fully prepared to do well in this Test. Confidence is really high after the way we made a comeback and did so many things to save it [the first Test].”
Tillakaratne Dilshan.

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