Pakistan are an unpredictable side and once again they proved it right on Saturday night as they collapsed to another deafeat in the series.
Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and decided to bat first on the flat Colombo wicket. Tharanga was the opening partner for Dilshan and both began their innings cautiously. Upul Tharanga once again failed with the bat and was out for just 4 in the 4th over. The scoreboard read just 9 runs when Kumar Sangakkara joined Dilshan at the crease. Pakistan seamers Gul and Tanvir bowled a tight line and length and did not allow Sri Lanka to get of to a flier. Dilshan was struggling with his timing and was unable to find the gaps too.
His uneasy stay at the wicket finally came to an end for 24. Dinesh Chandimal too did not score too many and was out for 18. Sri Lanka were 90/3 at this stage and were looking in a spot of bother. The "Big Two" Sangakkara and Jayawardene began the repair job for Sri Lanka and played steadily. Sri Lanka got the much needed momentum in the batting powerplay as they scored 49 runs in that period. Sangakkara and Jayawardene put on 110 runs for the 4th wicket before Jayawardene's stumps were rattled by Tanvir for 40.
Sangakkara followed him soon and fell agonisingly 3 runs short of what would have been a classical 100. He was caught brilliantly in the deep by Azhar Ali off Saeed Ajmal. Sri Lanka finally finished on 243/8 in their 50 overs. Tanvir, Hafeez and Ajmal took 2 wickets each for Pakistan.
Pakistan needed to bat intelligently to get to the score of 244. Hafeez opened the innings with Azhar Ali, but failed to add on to the score as he was dismissed for a duck by Malinga. Asad Shafiq was the next man in and there was big responsibility on the shoulders of these two youngsters.
They played slowly in the beginning and put on 53 for the 2nd wicket. Weerakoon struck for Sri Lanka and trapped Shafiq plumb in front for 25. Skipper Misbah ul Haq was looking in fine form and punished the Sri Lankan bowlers the moment they strayed in line. Azhar Ali also started to gather runs quickly and reached his 50 in 95 balls.
Misbah too reached that landmark soon after. Pakistan were 166/2 in the 38th over and it looked as if they will get to the target easily. It needed an unbelievable catch by Kulasekara to get rid of Misbah for 57 and it ended the 113 run stand between him and Azhar Ali. This resulted in a collapse as Thisira Perera took the first hat-trick of his career and dismissed Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi and Sarfaraz Ahmed in successive deliveries. Azhar Ali continued to fight on at the other end but no one could support him from the other end. Pakistan finally folded up for 199 in 45 overs. Azhar Ali finished on 81 not out in 124 balls. 6 Pakistan batsmen were out for 0 and they lost by 44 runs. Sri Lanka now lead the series 2-1 with the 5th and final ODI to be played on Monday.
SRI LANKA-243/8 (50)
Sangakkara-97
Jayawardene-40
Tanvir-2/43
PAKISTAN-199 (45)
Azhar Ali-81*
Misbah-57
Perera-4/42
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