Asia Cup Match 1: Sri Lanka Win by 16 Runs Despite Afridi Blitz Read more: http://www.crickblog.com/entry/asia-cup-match-1-sri-lanka-win-by-16-runs-d
The Pakistan captain played a majestic knock. Unfortunately it still could not help his team sail through against Sri Lanka who held their nerve despite the heroics at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.Shahid Afridi showed why he is the “Boom Boom” man, blazing his way to a ODI century worth going into the record books. 109 from only seventy-six balls that were star studded with eight sixes and seven hits across the boundary ropes were not enough to see Pakistan subdue the hosts in the first encounter of the Asia Cup 2010.
Pakistan needed precisely this kind of innings to offset the start that saw them sink from losing a wicket without a run on board, to be reduced to two down for eleven and further four down for thirty-two in the fourteenth over, when the fat lady was standing close by as Pakistan chased Sri Lanka’s target of 243.
But apart from the skipper’s trail blazing innings, only modest efforts came off the bat of Umar Akmal and Abdur Razzaq as Lasith Malinga and Angelo Matthews wrecked their start. Malinga was the star saviour of the night for Sri Lanka after picking up a five-for, conceding just thirty-four runs from ten overs as Pakistan were bowled out for 226 in only forty-seven overs, a run out adding to the chaos that set forth in the midst. Afridi had only a severely cramped body to show for his efforts.
Sri Lanka benefitted earlier in the day from the sweetly timed strokes of Mahela Jayawardene who scored a splendid half-century even as his partnership with the Sri Lankan captain, Kumar Sangakkara, who made forty-two runs himself, became the mainstay of the innings. While Angelo Matthews is becoming virtually indispensable to the team with yet another half century, not to be forgotten were the valuable few runs added by Nuwan Kulasekara and Malinga himself, incidentally Malinga’s score matching the margin of defeat for Pakistan, by sixteen runs.
Source: http://www.crickblog.com/entry/asia-cup-match-1-sri-lanka-win-by-16-runs-despite-afridi-blitz/#ixzz0qznPhJ16
