JAMSHEDPUR, India, March 19 (AFP) - Pakistani captain Wasim Akram continued his hold over Sri Lankan batsmen to fashion his team's nine-run win in the first one-day international here on Friday.
The left-arm seamer grabbed three wickets in five balls as Sri Lanka, chasing Pakistan's 246-9 from 50 overs, were shot out for 237 despite a valiant 81 from Aravinda De Silva.
The World Cup champions lost their last seven wickets for 20 runs after being well-placed at 217 for three in the opening match of the three-nation tournament also featuring hosts India.
Akram, one-day cricket's most successful bowler with 367 wickets, came good again after his sensational hat-tricks in successive Asian Test matches against Sri Lanka over the last two weeks.
The 32-year-old clean bowled Ruwan Kalpage, Marvan Atapattu and last man Pramodaya Wickremasinghe with deadly yorkers to earn the man of the match award from West Indian referee Cammie Smith.
De Silva put on 104 for the second wicket with Mahela Jayawardena (60), while Hashan Tillekeratne brought Sri Lanka closer to Pakistan's target with an unbeaten 39.
Earlier, Pakistan caved in after a blazing start to be curtailed to 246-9 in perfect batting conditions at the Keenan stadium.
Openers Saeed Anwar and Shahid Afridi smashed 148 by the 20th over, before Pakistan lost six wickets for 12 runs in a dramatic middle-order collapse2E
Wickremasinghe grabbed four of those wickets, but Pakistan recovered from 201-8 with the help of 45 valuable runs from the last two wickets. Saqlain Mushtaq made 23 not out and Arshad Khan 20.
''These are good times for me, but I can't hog all the credit for this win,'' Akram said.
''I was delighted the way Anwar and Afridi batted, but we will have to do something about the middle order.
''It's good we kept the pressure on the Sri Lankans in the field and it paid off in the end.''
Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga said his team needed to lift it's performance in the next match against India at Nagpur on Monday.
''We came near to winning, but it was not enough,'' Ranatunga said. ''We have to learn to finish it off after being in a sound position.''
Anwar and Afridi took a heavy toll on the depleted Sri Lankan attack, which was without the injured spin duo of Muttiah Murlitharan and Sanath Jayasuriya.
The pair raced to 71 in 10 overs and 155 in 15 as the Sri Lankans struggled to contain the batsmen with the mandatory field restrictions.
Left-hander Anwar, who compiled one-day cricket's highest score of 194 two years ago, hit 10 boundaries in his 72 off 55 balls.
The free-stroking Afridi smashed four sixes and five boundaries in a run-a-ball knock of 71, before both batsmen fell in successive overs.
Leg-spinner Upul Chandana began the slide with a brilliant diving catch off his own bowling to remove Anwar. In the next over, Afridi lofted Wickremasinghe down Chaminda Vaas' throat at long-off.
Wickremasinghe, hammered for 34 runs in his first four overs, sliced through the middle-order in his second spell.
Pakistan's woes increased when Azhar Mehmood ran out both Yousuf Youhanna and Akram and then himself fell in similar fashion for 21. |
