da heads bet： Pakistan sounded a warning to their Asian neighbours when they defeated SriLanka by five wickets in Galle today to win the unofficial Test seriesone-nil
CricInfo26-Jun-2001Pakistan sounded a warning to their Asian neighbours when they defeated SriLanka by five wickets in Galle today to win the unofficial Test seriesone-nil. They came to Sri Lanka with an extremely young squad and have shownthat they have plenty of talent waiting in the wings when the seniors startto fade.Having saved the First Test Match in Dambulla by the skin of their teeth,Pakistan held the initiative throughout the last two games and, if the truthbe told, fully deserve to win the series: their batsmen showed greaterapplication, their fast bowlers were occasionally exceptional and, if thiswasn’t enough, they could count on the services of a fine wrist spinner.They were always likely to win this match after Sri Lanka had collapsed toDanish Kaneria last evening. Sri Lanka’s only hope was the overnightpartnership between Thilan Samaraweera and Prasanna Jayawardene. They keptsuch hopes alive for 40 minutes this morning, extending the partnership to46 runs, before a wonderful rocket like throw from the deep square boundaryby Irfan Fazil ran out Jayawardene and opened the door for Pakistan.They needed no second invitation to wrap up the innings. By the time thatJayawardene had removed his batting pads, Malinga Bandara, the next man in,was walking back to the dressingroom having edged his first delivery straight to Hasan Raza at short gully.Thilan Samaraweera, obviously worried that he was going to get stranded,following the example of Raza yesterday and tried to pick up some quick runsbefore the innings closed. Unfortunately, he made the fatal mistake ofmissing a straight ball from Yasir Arafat and was trapped leg-before wicket.Dinusha Fernando rounded off the disappointment when he was run out by IrfanFazil, as he tried to pinch the strike. Sri Lanka had lost their last fourwickets for seven runs and Pakistan were required to score just 137 forvictory.Pakistan made heavy going of the target. Humayun Farhat, the wicket keeper,was promoted to open the innings, but he was trapped leg-before wicket inthe first over. Taufeeq Umar was also trapped leg-before, this time offSamaraweera, moments after the luncheon interval.Hasan Raza, the mainstay of the Pakistan batting throughout the tour, thenadded 24 runs with Salman Butt, before the young left-hander pulled lamelyto mid-wicket. When Raza was caught behind off Dinusha Fernando, Pakistanwere 67 for four and Sri Lanka may have sensed an outside chance of victory.Misbah-ul-Haq (23), who had saved the day in Dambulla, came to the rescueagain, this time with Faisal Naved (42*). The pair added 55 runs for thefifth wicket, to finally drain the spirit from the Sri Lankan’s. When Misbahwas bowled with 15 runs still required, they had already given up and it wasno surprise that the target was eventually reached courtesy of four sloppyoverthrows.Both coaches have maintained throughout this three-week tour that the endresult was of secondary importance to the identification of new talent. Bythat measure too, Pakistan have gained the most from the tour. Three playersin particular look like they can make the jump into the national team soon.Hasan Raza, still only 19 years old if you believe the statistics, standsout as the one class batsman, having scored 321 runs at 64.2. DanishKaneria is a leg spinner of great potential and claimed 21 wickets in theseries; whilst Irfan Fazil’s fast bowling was particularly impressive onthis lifeless surface in Galle.Sri Lanka meanwhile have discovered little, although they will take heartfrom the fact that the bowling academy appears to be bearing fruit, with anumber of promising young fast bowlers now emerging.Thilan Samaraweera distinguished himself with 21 wickets, AvishkaGunawardene stated a powerful case for a recall into the national squad, andthe performance of Michael Vandort was encouraging, if not compelling, withthe bat. Alas, the rest of the batting was hugely disappointing and,Samaraweera apart, no spinner grabbed the eye.Food for though then for the Sri Lankan selectors, who picked an unwieldy 22players for this three-match series. Apparently, the rationale was to giveas many players as possible an opportunity. The chances of them taking thatopportunity, however, were dramatically reduced by the ensuing sense ofinsecurity within the squad. Unfortunately, it’s back to the drawing boardfor Sri Lanka.