Sharjah Diary: Sri Lanka romp home with the golden ARY Cup

SHARJAH - Managing only one win in their four league matches, Sri Lanka had to come up with something special to stop Pakistan's winning spree and they certainly did! Taking full advantage of odds-on favourite Pakistan's fielding lapses to first post 297, the highest target of the event -- to the great chagrin of a majority of the 24,000 strong capacity crowd -- the Lankans then blew away the might of the Pakistan batting for only 220 in 41.4 overs to deservingly walk away with the ARY Gold Cup. This was their second successive trophy in this desert emirate, as the Lankans had overcome India in the final of the Sharjah Cup here last October.

Chasing has never really been Pakistan's forte, but the way they went about the business of making 297 was really shocking. There was little method in their madness. And to give credit where it is due, the Lankans stuck to the job of inflicting regular blows quite professionally, bringing off some spectacular catches to make Pakistan disintegrate, to 108 for six before the first 15 overs had been seen off. This is where the difference lay: the Lankans had held onto the chances that came their way as if their life depended on it while the Pakistanis squandered theirs, and that contributed to their fall.

And surprisingly it was Pakistan's fielding which had contributed to their golden streak - four out of four wins in the league matches. But, call it a case of nerves or the law of averages catching up with them, the Pakistanis really never managed to sustain the pressure, both while fielding and batting. And that is why, despite having their moments, they still could not manage to come out on top.

In this tournament, Anwar has been amongst the runs save once, and then it didn't matter for Pakistan was chasing only 127 and Inzamam was on song. In the final too, he top scored with 62, consuming a mere 64 deliveries, seven fours and a six his main scoring shots. But it was more or less a lone hand, and was never going to be enough. Long before he was out, the match had really slipped out of Pakistan's grasp. His wicket, however, provided Sanath Jayasuriya with double celebration: this was his 200th wicket in One-day Internationals in his 235th match, and it had seen off whatever little semblance of a chance Pakistan may have had of making a comeback. The asking rate being about six runs an over from the outset, Pakistan was off to a really disastrous start, losing both openers Imran Nazir and Shahid Afridi in the second over. Humayun Farhat was promoted in the order and he made a quicksilver 39 (34 balls, 4 fours, 1 six), in a courageous little cameo. With Anwar stroking the ball as sweetly as he does at the other end, the charge was taken to the Lankans, and they seemed a bit shaken. Pakistan run-rate was consistently hovering around nine by the ninth over.

The Lankan skipper made an inspired bowling change, bringing on his best pacer Chaminda Vaas, who had gone for a few runs in his first three-over spell, from the far end. He took three wickets in his next three overs to break the back of Pakistan's batting - Humayun, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Younis Khan, all falling to good catches. Dilhara Fernando added to their woes by accounting for Abdur Razzaq, and at 108 for six, Pakistan had no hope of getting anywhere near the target.

From here on, Anwar and Shoaib Malik tried to play on, to salvage some pride by avoiding total capitulation with not even a far-fetched ambition of victory. And once Anwar was snapped up, Malik and Waqar merely prolonged the agony. Ironically, the batting of these tailenders displayed, and amply so, that there neither were there any demons in the wicket nor was the bowling was of such quality to have overwhelmed them. Had Pakistan's upper order shown the patience, they may really have made a fight of it.

The Lankan innings:
The Lankans had come into this match determined to make amends, and amends they made by posting a massive 297, but their cause was aided a great deal by some really sloppy fielding, specially in the air, as four catches were floored and a stumping chance went abegging. Yet Pakistan had done a good job of containing Sri Lanka in the beginning, the first eight overs yielding only 20 for the loss of Romesh Kaluwitharana, run out by Malik. Then Jayasuriya, who had hung in there in an uncharacteristically sedate mood, latched onto Waqar Younis, driving him for a six over the cover boundary.

With that shot Jayasuriya broke his shackles, and now there was no stopping him. Unleashing a string of aggressive strokes (four off Sami at gully off a cut, two back to back sixes off Razzaq at long-off and straight over the sight screen), Jayasuriya provided momentum to the innings before Sami and Saqlain stopped the free flow of runs. Jayasuriya reached his 50 but before that 'keeper Humayun Farhat dropped him on 49. The Lankan captain's 50 came off 72 deliveries, with the help of three sixes and two fours. Once past 50, he seemed to be well on his way to his second hundred when he perished trying to sweep off-spinner Shoaib Malik once too often. Atapattu, who had till then batted well within himself, in a stand of 114 with Jayasuriya, got down to building another partnership with Mahela Jaywardene, who not in the best of forms tried to improvise. This improvisation may have cost him his wicket, when he had barely made five, had substitute Yasir Arafat not put down a sitter. In the next over, Atappatu got to his 50 (88 balls, 2 fours) but he would not have, if Inzamam had not dropped another sitter.

Three chances already grassed, the Lankans came into their own, with Jaywardene going after Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi, hitting them for boundaries at will. Atappattu too joined him in this run spree. Such was the domination of the bat over ball in the last 15 overs that the Lankans nearly doubled their score - taking it from 149 for two at the 35th over to 297 in the 50th.

By the time Atapattu was run out, off a Saeed Anwar throw from the deep, the stand for the fourth wicket had already put on 111 runs, and at 3-233 in the 44th over the Lankans seemed well placed for greater things. They sputtered a bit in the end, after Jaywardene (67, off 59 deliveries, five fours, three sixes) was finally caught and bowled, trying to reverse sweep Saqlain, losing four wickets for 34 runs. But Zoysa made sure that they finished strongly by making 11 off four deliveries, clouting Saqlain for a six on the last ball of the regulation 50 overs.

That was a few runs too many for Pakistan, especially because they are known to make a hash of things while going for a chase. But they only had themselves to blame for allowing the Lankans to get to this huge total.