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Razzaq helps
Pakistan bounce back with a win over SL |
October 17, 2006 (Link to
Scorecard)
 A
turbulent Pakistan side has bounced back in
great style after a series of ugly episodes off
the field to beat a jubilant Sri Lankan side in
their first game of the Champions Trophy. It was
a close encounter that Pakistan had won with
Shoaib Malik and Abdul Razzaq steering their
side through some anxious moments through their
ice cool batting under pressure. The Sawai
Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur surprisingly had a
great crowd turn out which only added spice to
an exciting finish under lights. It was an
emotional moment for the members of the Pakistan
side when Abdul Razzaq had smacked Dilhara
Fernando over long off for a sixer as Pak
overtook Sri Lanka’s challenge of 253.
The atmosphere was nervous with the Pakistan
Side coming from the shock of losing its two
spearheads Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif to a
doping test where they were tested positive for
a banned steroid called Nandrolone. The
replacements for these two bowlers were Rana
Naved-ul-Hasan and Rao Iftikhar Anjum who got
picked in the playing eleven. Sri Lanka had won
the toss and they took the bold decision of
batting first which was primarily a questionable
decision considering the impact of the dew on
their spinners in the evening. The Lankans were
a settled side and they went unchanged into this
match.
Sanath Jayasuriya seized the moment perfectly as
he feasted on the nervy Pakistani bowling. The
left hander dictated terms to the two Pakistani
new ball bowlers Rana and Iftikhar by smacking
both bowlers for a six each. However Pakistan
escaped some big time caning from the Master
Blaster as he was clean bowled after charging
down to Iftikhar Anjum in the 10th over.
Jayasuriya could race away to a 35-ball 48 which
included 5 fours as well. Sri Lanka then
consolidated the good start provided by Sanath
with Tharanga and Jayawardene going on smoothly.
Tharanga had shifted gears playing on the up and
getting the boundaries thick and fast. He
couldn’t control his adrenalin flow this time
around failing to convert his start into a big
one as he slashed a short delivery from Razzaq
to the keeper. Tharanga made a good looking 38
from 48 balls with 6 hits to the fence.
The Sri Lankan middle order batsmen got good
starts to their innings but couldn’t really
score the big ones as they were bogged down
slightly by the Pakistani spinners Malik and
Afridi. One thing Sri Lanka could do was to
produce tiny but useful partnerships to keep the
scorecard ticking. Jayawardene and Sangakkara
both fell making attractive 30s before they paid
penalty for their bad shots. Pakistan had
eventually bowled out Sri Lanka for 253 with
four more deliveries to come with Abdul Razzaq
ending up with four wickets. Former Skipper
Marvan Atapattu contributed 36 good runs as
well. For Pak, Razzaq was very nippy today and
looked like a completely different bowler as he
worked up a good pace of around 135kmph plus.
Mohammad Hafeez bowled his off breaks smartly
giving away just 24 in his 7 overs which was
during the last 15 overs of the innings when Sri
Lanka were looking to cut loose.
Pakistan were off to a terrific start from
Mohammad Hafeez and Imran Farhat with both
batsmen playing some flamboyant shots to keep
the dangerous Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga
at bay. For once Sri Lanka just couldn’t get the
early breakthrough. But Mohammad Hafeez did
provide the opportunity for Sri Lanka to taste
first success as he poked at an away going
delivery from Vaas to Sangakkara who was
standing up to the stumps to the left armer.
Hafeez made a 15-ball 22. Pakistan were going
along nicely with Imran Farhat taking some risks
that paid off but it did look needless at times.
It was only in the 13th over that the Lankans
could find their next breakthrough with Farveez
Maharoof striking with the first ball of his
match. It was the big wicket of the Pakistan
Skipper Younis Khan who steered Maharoof’s
delivery into the keeper’s hands to leave
Pakistan at 71 for 2. Few more fireworks
followed from Imran Farhat’s blade which forced
Mahela Jayawardene to hold the third and final
powerplay back and get on his match winner
Muralitharan. And the magician did respond to
his captain’s call by inducing Imran Farhat in
playing a nonsense shot after charging down the
track to hole down at sweeper covers. Farhat
made 53 from 64 balls with 8 fours which wasn’t
the innings his side wanted. A surprise move saw
Shahid Afridi come much early in the batting
than expected backfired as Afridi lost his head
to step down wildly to loft Jayasuriya straight
to long off. Afridi’s dismissal meant that Pak
were in a crisis, this time on a cricket field,
at 114 for 4.
Any further damage at this stage was kept aside
by Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik and with
Murali and Jayasuriya not getting any turn with
the wet ball, the batting was getting easier.
The runs required came down under a hundred but
the required run rate was slowly creeping up due
to some tight bowling. Sri Lanka were lucky soon
as they got rid of Mohammad Yousuf through a mix
up after he was stranded by Malik in an
attempted third run off a misfiled. Yousuf was
run out for 49 which came from 78 balls with 5
fours and after his exit, the running between
the wickets from Malik became very vulnerable.
But he found a good partner in Kamran Akmal and
both succeeded in getting the target under
control. Kamran Akmal was dismissed when
Chaminda Vaas was brought back into the attack
after the right hander looked to have pulled him
very well but Farveez Maharoof at deep mid
wicket ran in 20 yards atleast to his left to
take a fantastic catch under pressure. Kamran
Akmal fell after scoring 20 and he took Pakistan
to 201 for 6.
Abdul Razzaq joined Shoaib Malik in the middle
with the runs required to win more than the
balls left. Both batsmen ensured that they
didn’t give their wicket away to get Pakistan
close to the comfort level. Pakistan reached
near safety with Razzaq smacking a six and Malik
following it up with a flick for a boundary off
Vaas in the 47th over. There was absolutely no
stopping for Razzaq who went for the full
blooded shots almost every ball he faced and the
victory was achieved without any further drama
in the end. Abdul Razzaq was the Man of the
Match as he had followed his four wickets with a
match winning 38 from 24 balls which had a
couple of fours and sixes. His partner Shoaib
Malik played an equally important innings to
remain unbeaten on 46 from 59 balls including an
almighty six off Murali that parked on the roof
in the long on region.
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