Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews shakes hands with Shahid Afridi after his side won the Asia Cup final in Dhaka. PHOTO: AFp
Pakistan’s dream of a successful defence of its Asia Cup title was shattered on Saturday by a poor bowling and fielding display under lights at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
The tournament had caught the nation’s popular imagination after its cricketers staged two spellbinding comebacks, led by the belligerence of Shahid Afridi against India and Bangladesh. The final, unfortunately, turned out to be quite anticlimactic.
Inexplicably Misbahul Haq’s men caved in the field after posting a par score of 260 for five. The fielders dropped crucial catches and gave away valuable runs in the outfield.
Wicket-keeper Umar Akmal dropped centurion Lahiru Thirimanne (101) in the 20th over of the innings. Before that Sharjeel Khan stepped on the rope while attempting a catch off Kusal Perera. Luckily, Perera fell soon after being given a life. Pakistan fans were fuming with the Thirimanne chance who went on to change the course of the match after Akmal missed the opportunity with the opener on 36.
Thirimanne’s 156-run partnership with the seasoned Mahela Jayawardene ensured a comfortable five-wicket win for the islanders. Jayawardene, who lived a charmed life throughout, was dropped by Mohammad Hafeez in the 34th over off Umar Gul. The right-hander was batting at 52 at that juncture. He eventually fell for 75 after a game changing contribution of his own.
Thirimanne had also scored a century in the tournament opener against Pakistan.
Other than Saeed Ajmal, who took two wickets in consecutive balls, including the prolific Kumara Sangakkara, no other Pakistan bowler looked penetrative in the all-important final.
Fast bowlers Umar Gul, Mohammad Talha and Junaid Khan were hammered all around the park. Talha and Junaid took a wicket apiece at the fag end of a drab performance.
Alam’s tonrevives Pakistan
Earlier in the day, Fawad Alam’s maiden ODI hundred brought Pakistan back in the match after an inspired three wicket opening burst from Sri Lanka’s premier bowler Lasith Malinga had reduced the men in green to 18 for three, Malinga took all five wickets to fall in the innings.
Alam’s unbeaten 114 off 134 balls anchored the innings after the early setbacks, Misbahul Haq was also at his obdurate best scoring 65 off 98 balls in a 122-run fourth wicket partnership with Alam.
After Misbah’s departure in the 37th over of the innings, Umar Akmal tore into Sri Lanka’s attack in the last 10 overs, the wicket-keeper batsman continued his impressive form scoring 59 off 42 balls, and his innings included seven hits to the fence.
Afridi, who passed a fitness test before the start of the match, only arrived at the crease in the last over of the innings, much to the disappointment of a packed stadium that waited throughout for another cameo from the master blaster.
The hero with the bat though was Alam, the left-hander who spent three years in the wilderness. Alam improved his career best of 74, with his ton on Saturday.
The 74-run effort was registered during the record breaking run chase against the hosts last Tuesday. Alam clubbed three sixes in his innings in the final and his striking form in the last two innings appears to have silenced his critics who often castigated him for his inability to hit boundaries.
‘Top order played poor shots’
Former Pakistan Test cricketer Basit Ali feels that the top order collapse proved costly for the team. “The top three batsmen fell to poor shots. There was no need to attack Malinga, who is their star bowler. The loss of early wickets hampered us in the middle overs. A score of 325 was the requirement on this flat Mirpur track.”
Ali also lambasted the poor fielding display. “During the Sri Lankan reply, we were badly let down by our fielding, we were very ordinary at the big occasion [final]”.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 9th, 2014.
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Sri Lankan was any day a better team with their consistent performance ,unlike Pakistan which were erratic- flash on the pan variety.
to dethrone one has to be already sitting on the throne . but the last time i checked it was srilanka that were champions in asia cup much earlier.