Pakistan v Sri Lanka
At Sharjah, November 2 (day/night)
15-Apr-2003
At Sharjah, November 2 (day/night). Pakistan won by seven wickets. Pakistan 4 pts. Toss: Sri
Lanka.
Pakistan's often mercurial batsmen found the resolve to overhaul Sri Lanka's 272. Inzamam-ul-
Haq, in his 250th one-day international, joined Naved Latif, in his second, at 41 for two, and
their brilliantly paced 219-run stand carried them to the threshold of victory. Against disciplined
seam bowling from Fernando, Naved struggled initially, but ground on, eschewing risk. At the
halfway mark, Pakistan had only just reached 100 with the asking-rate approaching seven. Then
Inzamam reeled off a series of nonchalant cuts and drives; Naved took his cue, and attacked
Jayasuriya's spin. The seamers returned but, with Muralitharan resting, Sri Lanka could not halt
the momentum - four dropped catches did not help. Naved finally fell for a 141-ball 113, Inzamam
remained unbeaten on 118 in 124. Sri Lanka could have batted Pakistan out of the game if the
middle order had backed up Jayawardene, who survived an apparent run-out to score 84 from
83 balls.
Man of the Match: Naved Latif.