Sri Lanka’s win over Pakistan in their second one day international has given them a badly-needed confidence boost for the rest of the five-match series, captain Tillakaratne Dilshan said. Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 25 runs at Dubai Stadium on Monday to level the five-match series 1-1 and give Sri Lanka their first victory on the tour. Pakistan won the first match, also played in Dubai, by eight wickets on Friday. The third match is scheduled here for November 18. “It’s a big relief to win, we badly needed to win the match,” said Dilshan, whose team lost the preceding three-Test series 1-0. “It was a fantastic team effort and now we have more confidence for the rest of the matches.”
Sri Lanka posted 235-7 in their allotted 50 overs with opener Upul Tharanga (77) and Mahela Jayawardene (50) the main contributors, before paceman Lasith Malinga restricted Pakistan to 210 by taking 3-36.
Dilshan said early wickets in Pakistan’s innings turned the match in Sri Lanka’s favour. “We needed early wickets and thanks to Lasith we got two in the first over but we still kept the pressure because we knew Pakistan has a strong batting line-up and I am happy that our bowling unit did well,” said Dilshan. Umar Akmal hit an aggressive 91 and Shahid Afridi a fiery 14-ball 29, but three run outs did not help Pakistan’s run chase. Dilshan praised experienced batsman Jayawardene and hoped he will continue his return to form. “Before the match Mahela had knee problem but he showed a lot of character and I am happy to have him and other senior player (Kumar) Sangakkara in my team, both are assets for us,” said Dilshan.
Since Dilshan took over in May, Sri Lanka have yet to win a Test or one-day series, losing to England in England and against Australia at home.“We have to keep consistency and I hope that we play this brand of cricket for which we are known for,” said Dilshan. Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq rued the early fall of wickets to the Sri Lankans. “We lost three early wickets and then kept on losing wickets, and that built pressure on us,” said Misbah, who put on 64 for the fourth wicket with Akmal before being trapped leg-before by paceman Dilhara Fernando for 21. “It was a bad day for us and now we need to put our heads down and learn from our mistakes,” said Misbah, who was appointed captain for all three forms of the game in June.
The remaining matches in the series will be played in Sharjah (November 20) and Abu Dhabi (November 23). Both teams also play a Twenty20 international on November 25. Meanwhile, chairman PCB Zaka Ashraf has reiterated that Pakistan are keen to tour India in 2012. “It is absolutely necessary for Pakistan and India to play bilateral matches and for this purpose, if required, we are even willing to send our team to India next year,” Ashraf said. The ICC’s future tours programme includes a Pakistan tour to India for a Test series in March and April next year but, until now, the PCB has said it first wants compensation for the cancelled 2009 tour. “Cricket has always played a positive role in improving ties between us,” said Ashraf. “I have requested the Indian Board president to finalise the series as soon as possible.”
