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May 22, 2007 (Link to Scorecard)

Sri Lanka have won the last One Dayer of the Warid Cricket Series, the last match for Tom Moody as the Sri Lankan Coach. Although Pakistan had clinched the series 2-0, they lost this third and final match by a huge margin of 115 runs. Sri Lanka batted first to post a nice total of 296 and the Pakistanis like the Sri Lankans in the 2nd ODI fell apart in their chase.

Teams have looked to bat first after winning the toss at Abu Dhabi and that is what Mahela Jayawardene had done. The Sri Lankan team was bolstered by the return of Sanath Jayasuriya with one match old Malinda Warnapura making way for him. Pakistan were generous in giving One Day Caps to all rounder Fawad Alam and Najaf Shah (left arm quick). Rao Iftikhar Anjum made a comeback and he was the bowler who got the prized wicket of Sanath Jayasuriya, falling for 19 from 29 balls. But the start from Sri Lanka was a good one with 62 on the board with just over 10 overs bowled at the loss of one wicket. Guided by the inform Mahela Jayawarde, who had made a second consecutive half century, Sri Lanka reached 296 for 9. Mahela got 83 from 81 with 7 fours and 2 sixes. The talented Chamara Silva helped himself to 64 from 87 with 4 fours to be engaged in a match winning partnership of 124 with his skipper. Dilshan provided the fireworks towards the end with 28 from 14 with 3 fours and a six. Upul Tharanga at the top had given the impetus with 40 from 37 with six fours.

Mohammad Asif had a bad day on the field, getting smacked away for 76 runs in his 10 overs quota besides taking a wicket. It was also a day when Mohammad Asif had been reprimanded by Match Referee Javagal Srinath for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct when he had dismissed Mahela Jayawardene during the second match. Coming back to the Pakistani bowling, Rao Iftikhar Anjum was the stand out bowler with 3 for 53 in 10 overs taking the wickets of Jayasuriya, Tharanga and Kapugedera. Debutant Najaf Shah was wicketless going for 59 in his 10 having shared the new ball. Left arm spinner Abdur Rehman was economical with his 1 for 44 in 10 overs.

In their reply, Pakistan lost Salman Butt early, bowled by Farveez Maharoof in the 3rd over. Hafeez, who had come in for Imran Nazir in this game was run out after making a promising 34. Pakistan were put under the backfoot as Dilhara Fernando rocked them with three quick wickets of Hameed (22), Yousuf (5) and debutant Fawad Alam (first ball duck). Pakistan slipped to a hopeless 68 for 5 in the 16th over and then to 70 for 6 with Kamran Akmal getting run out. Shoaib Malik, the captain was the lone man fighting till the end, remaining unconquered on 79 from 85 with 4 fours and 4 sixes as the Pakistani chase folded at 181 all out in 42.5 overs. Dilhara Fernando got the Man of the Match for his 3 for 20 from 7 overs. Leg spinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi, who had come in for Malinga Bandara did well by taking 2 for 32 in his full quota of overs. The Player of the Series award was shared by Mahela Jayawardene and Shahid Afridi, who didn't play this 3rd ODI.

 

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