It was the Perera show all the way at Pallekele and Pakistan were searching for answers for Perera's brilliant performance with the bat and ball. He provided the much needed momentum to the Sri Lankan innings in the end as he hammered a quick fire unbeaten 24 in just 14 deliveries and also destroyed the Pakistan batting line up by registering career best figures of 6/44. He was adjudged the Man of the Match for this performance.
SL-280/4 (50)
Dilshan-119* (139)
Jayawardene-53 (45)
PAK-204 (46.2)
Azhar Ali-96 (119)
Perera-6/44
Sri Lanka were batting first and were looking for a victory to level the series. They made a few changes in the batting order and Tharanga was sent out to open along with Dilshan. Tharanga did not last long and was out for 18 and the next man in was Sangakkara. He was dismissed for 18 too and his poor run with the bat continued. Despite the loss of wickets at the other end, Dilshan carried on in his merry way and punished the poor balls. Chandimal provided a solid support to Dilshan and the duo gathered runs at a fair pace. Dilshan reached his 50, but played out a few deliveries in the process. Chandimal was then shown the door for 32, but he had done his job. Mahela Jayawardene was looking a lot more confident and played a lot more freely in the middle order at no.5. Mahela took on the Pakistan bowlers and hit 8 boundaries in his knock of 53 in 45 balls. Meanwhile, Dilshan completed his 100 and played the sheet anchor role. Thisira Perera ended the Sri Lankan innings in grand fashion, scoring 24 in 14. Dilshan remained unbeaten on 119 and Sri Lanka reached 280/4 in 50 overs.
Pakistan had a huge task in front of them and eeded to bat well to get to the target because batting under lights is a tough ask in Sri Lankan conditions. Pakistan began poorly, losing Hafeez and Younis Khan early and the scoreboard was reading 48/2. It was then upto Azhar Ali and Misbah ul Haq to take the innings forward and both of them played according to the situation. Young Azhar Ali was impressive in his shot making and added 79 for the third wicket with his skipper. Pakistan were 127/2 after 29 overs and had a good chance of getting to the score. But Perera showed his magic and trapped Misbah plumb in front for 27. No other batsman could click for Pakistan from there on and when Azhar Ali was bowled by Kulasekara for 96, it proved to be the final nail in the coffin for Pakistan. Finally, the Pakistan innings folded up for 204 and Perera finished with figures of 6/44. Sri Lanka now have leveled the series 1-1 by a comfortable 76 run victory here at Pallekele.
SRI LANKA WON BY 76 RUNS
Man of the Match- THISIRA PERERA
No comments:
Post a Comment