da heads bet： An imperious century from Mahela Jayawardene was central to a commanding six-wicket victory for Sri Lanka which clinched the series with two games to spare
The Bulletin by Dileep Premachandran03-Aug-2009
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outMahela Jayawardene’s attacking ton made quick work of a formidable target set by Pakistan•AFP
The morning may have belonged to the Akmal brothers and Pakistan, but itwas all Sri Lanka in the afternoon, with an imperious century from MahelaJayawardene central to a commanding six-wicket victory which clinched theseries with two games to spare. The pursuit of 289 was made to look likechild’s play as Jayawardene and Upul Tharanga put on 202 for the firstwicket, and not even a brief wobble thereafter could stop Sri Lanka’sinexorable progress. Jayawardene’s 123, his first hundred since 2007, tookonly 108 balls, and even cramps failed to curtail the boundary barrage as thebowlers were treated with disdain.Jayawardene’s driving down the ground, and over cover, was majestic, and anyshortness in length was ruthlessly punished by the most elegant of pullshots. But for a huge leg-before shout from Shahid Afridi which he survived- the umpire suspecting a bottom edge – Jayawardene made few mistakes, finding theboundaries with elan as the bowling started to fall apart. There was evena cheeky reverse-sweep for four off Saeed Ajmal, as he cruised to hiscentury from only 91 balls.Tharanga had slowed after getting to his own half-century from 55 balls,content to work the ball around, but there was more than a measure ofmisfortune about his dismissal, with the Ajmal delivery clearly strikinghim outside the line of off stump. When Mahela followed, after a tiredmiscue to cover, Pakistan scented opportunity. And the feel-good factorincreased when Thilan Samaraweera played one back to Ajmal off the leadingedge.But Sri Lanka weren’t about to squander such a start. Thilina Kandamby andKumar Sangakkara wrested the initiative back with a slew of boundaries,with Abdul Razzaq proving especially disappointing. Kandamby fell to MohammadAamer shortly before victory was clinched, but it was all too easy in theend.The hard work had been done much earlier, with Tharanga and Jayawardenecatching the new-ball bowlers cold. Tharanga led the way with somewonderfully fluid drives through cover, and Jayawardene soon impressed hisclass on proceedings with some delightful shots in the V. Razzaq could donothing to control the runs, and when Younis Khan turned toNaved-ul-Hasan, replacing Umar Gul and playing his first match intwo-and-a-half years, there was no ebb to the flow.The pair played every shot in the book, from the paddle sweep, to themuscled heave over midwicket, but it was the drives threaded through thegaps that really caught the eye. Afridi, Pakistan’s most consistentone-day bowler in recent times, was also treated with scant respect as themost imposing of platforms was built for the final surge.Pakistan had done pretty well in that respect earlier in the day, withUmar Akmal carrying on where his brother, Kamran, left off. With Younis,Afridi, Razzaq and Naved contributing meaningful cameos, Pakistan finallyhad a total that could be defended.It had started badly, with Nasir Jamshed guiding a Thilan Thusharadelivery into the hands of slip, but Kamran and Younis quickly set aboutrestoring parity. Neither Nuwan Kulasekara nor Thushara was allowed tosettle, as both men picked the gaps and crashed the ball with impunity.After 56 came from the opening Powerplay, Sangakkara opted for thebustling pace of Dilhara Fernando and the medium pace of Angelo Mathews.And it was Mathews who delivered the breakthrough, tempting Kamran intoone off-side flail too many. He had made 45 from 46 balls.Shoaib Malik was undone by a superb lifter from Fernando, and when Younissuccumbed to Thushara’s throwing arm while risking a single to mid-on,Pakistan had slumped from 80 for 1 to 107 for 4. Fawad Alam then dawdledto 13 from 33 balls, and with Umar taking time to assess the bowlers, itwas left to Afridi to inject urgency into the innings.Both the impressive Mathews and Muttiah Muralitharan were targeted as Afridi breezed to 32 from 19 balls. But it was Murali who had the last laugh, and a few words, as Afridi missed a straighter one. And the edge on the feel thenintensified as Umar moved up a gear, smacking four and a huge straight sixoff Murali after compiling a maiden half-century from just 59 balls.Murali got his man, going for an encore and though more sweet nothingswere exchanged, this was one tussle that the spin maestro hadn’t won.Thanks to Jayawardene and Tharanga though, Sri Lanka won the only contestthat mattered.