ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 / Features
Sri Lanka v Pakistan, World Cup 2011, Group A, Colombo
Afridi's record, and the advantage of batting first
There were a few records set in the match, and it was the toss that played a huge role in the result
Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan
February 25, 2011
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Report : Misbah and Afridi sink Sri Lanka
Players/Officials:
Muttiah Muralitharan
| Shahid Afridi
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ICC Cricket World Cup
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Pakistan's 11-run victory was the fourth in their previous 11 matches against Sri Lanka, but more importantly they maintained their 100% record against Sri Lanka in World Cup matches. Pakistan's fourth win in eight matches at the Premadasa Stadium puts them second on the list of visiting teams with the most wins against Sri Lanka at this venue.
Sri Lanka hardly had any useful partnerships in their innings while Pakistan managed quite a few, including the century stand between Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq for the fourth wicket. Pakistan made the most of the first ten overs, during which they scored 65, and the batting Powerplay - 36 runs. Sri Lanka scored 42 runs in the first ten overs, and were not aided in their big chase by an extremely slow innings by Chamara Silva, who scored his first 11 runs off 41 balls, and was eventually dismissed for 57 off 78 balls.
This was Sri Lanka's first defeat in a home World Cup game. In 1996, Australia and West Indies forfeited their games against Sri Lanka because of security issues in the country and Sri Lanka defeated Kenya and Zimbabwe. In their opening match of the 2011 tournament, Sri Lanka had defeated Canada by 210 runs.
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Shahid Afridi produced yet another superb bowling display in the middle overs to give Pakistan the upper hand. He picked up the vital wickets of Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews during his spell of 4 for 34. In the process, he took his 300th wicket in ODIs, becoming only the 11th bowler to do so.
He also became the second player after Sanath Jayasuriya to reach the milestone of 6000 runs and 300 wickets in ODIs. Afridi has been superb in ODIs since 2008, picking up 89 wickets at an average just over 31.
Another record for Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan, currently the record holder for most wickets in ODIs, surpassed Wasim Akram's tally of 55 wickets in World Cups becoming the second-highest wicket taker in the tournament. His tally is only behind Glenn McGrath's record of 71 wickets. In his first two World Cups, Muralitharan took only 13 wickets, but added 40 in the next two. His wicket tally was instrumental in Sri Lanka making the semi-final in 2003 and the final in 2007.
| Year | Matches | Wickets | Average | ER | 4+ WI |
| 1996 | 6 | 7 | 30.85 | 3.77 | 0 |
| 1999 | 5 | 6 | 26.33 | 3.67 | 0 |
| 2003 | 10 | 17 | 18.76 | 3.63 | 1 |
| 2007 | 10 | 23 | 15.26 | 4.14 | 2 |
| 2011 | 2 | 3 | 24.33 | 3.84 | 0 |
Woes of chasing teams in Colombo
The bad luck for chasing teams continued at the Premadasa Stadium, where they have won only five of the 25 matches played since 2005. The record is worse when the match is played under lights: only two out of 19 matches have been won by teams chasing. Among grounds that have hosted at least eight matches since 2005, the win-loss ratio for chasing teams is the worst at the Premadasa.
| Ground | Played | Won | Lost | W/L ratio |
| Jaipur | 10 | 7 | 3 | 2.33 |
| Chittagong | 9 | 6 | 3 | 2.00 |
| Mirpur, Dhaka | 44 | 27 | 17 | 1.58 |
| Dambulla | 27 | 15 | 11 | 1.36 |
| Ahmedabad | 9 | 5 | 4 | 1.25 |
| Mohali | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0.60 |
| Premadasa, Colombo | 25 | 5 | 19 | 0.26 |
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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@Tariq Niazi: You're right in everything you say, except... "better teams". India and Srilanka were the joint favourites according to betting sites. What team could be "better"? @csbest: If we start imagining hypothetical situations there is no limit to it. I can make a lost of "what if" questions but Id rather focus on the ground realities.
Posted by fadms on (February 28, 2011, 5:36 GMT)The world cup is still a long way off and as a die hard Sri Lanka supporter i still have so much faith in our team. This is only but a learning curve and knowing the difficulties of chasing at Premadasa, i think SL did very well albeit a few areas of improvement. Firstly our bowling could have been better so as to reduce the target to chase. Well done SL and all the best in your remaining games. Now we have to definitely win against Aus and New Zealand and the remaining Minnows so that we qualify in the top 2. Well done Pakistan. You played really well. It was an awesome match though it left a bitter taste in my mouth since my team lost.
Posted byever since Afridi said he's a BOWLER, he has thankfully set out to prove it.
Posted by csbest on (February 28, 2011, 3:42 GMT)toss is the main reason in that stadium,you know even india can't chase a 250 in that pitch under lights.but it's a proper ground to bat in the day.so i think it's not good to LET THE TOSS TO DECIDE WHO WILL WIN.for world cup matches,we should use pitches which behaves equally in day & under lights.
Posted byAfridi deserves to come later on, but our low confident cptain and coach are usless.
FYI: IF you tell afridi to send razzaq at number 3 I am sure he wil reply its not possible under IC rukes number 8 batsmen can not bat at number 3.
Difference Between afridi and razzaq
Razzaq play under any situation and a guy who dotn take stress
Afridi low confident and scared batsmen.
Razzaq clean hitter
Afridi depends on luck
Razzaq plays for the team
Afridi selfish.
Posted byhope pakistan will win the wcup...
Posted byAnyone out there who still thinks Pakistan are not dangerous contenders for the World Cup? With tremendous poise and skill in the middle overs, Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan propelled Pakistan, who were on a tricky 105 for 2 in the 21st over, to a strong 277, before Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akthar produced bits of magic to derail the chase. Chamara Silva threatened to pull off a thrilling heist with a flurry of boundaries, and Nuwan Kulasekara made one heroic last-ditch effort to reduce the equation to 18 runs from the final over. Umar Gul, however, held his nerve to steer Pakistan home and end a mesmeric exhibition of high-quality cricket in Colombo
Posted byFair play, Afridi's bowled well in the last couple of games, but (although I like him) he's stupidly over rated. If Paul Collingwood plays 315 ODIs he'll probably have almost as many wickets and at least a 1000 more runs. Yeah, so Afridi is a match winner, but what about those 49 games he plays between match winning performances in which he does nothing at all?
Posted by csbest on (February 27, 2011, 5:30 GMT)batting under lights in R.Premadasa stadium is impossible even for the world champions.you can check past records of the stadium,the understand how the pitch behaves in night & under lights.so if SL win the toss,they wouldl win this surely with a vast gap of marks!pakistani have no even a bitter chance!
Posted by sanath007 on (February 27, 2011, 2:35 GMT)Win the Toss Win the Match saga continues at Premadasa Stadium