Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, 1st Match at Dambulla, , Jun 15 2010 - Ball by Ball Commentary

The crowd roar and roar. Shoaib Akthar impressed on his comeback. Shahid Afridi dazzled with an special out-of-character knock. But it was Lasith Malinga who killed the contest with an outstanding effort with the ball. Stats say that it was his career-best spell. And remember, he chipped in with a vital contribution with the bat as well.

Also don't forget Angelo Mathews' responsible innings and Kumar Sangakkara's special catch to dismiss Shahid Afridi. That set the cat among the pigeons.

Hang on for the quotes from the ceremony

Sri: "Malinga scored 16, the margin of victory"

Dan Pettitt: "Lasith Malinga achieved his best ODI score with the bat (surpassing 15) and his best ODI bowling (formely 4/28). Good game."

Salman Butt (Afrdi is injured and hasn't come out) : "It was fantatic to see the courage and heart he [Afridi] showed in the middle. I wish we could have won the match. Even if this last ball had gone to Razzaq, we would have won it. It was a very chase-able target. Shahid bhai and Umar brought us back. It was a double-paced wicket. Sometimes it would come to you and sometimes it would stop on you. Afridi is getting better; he was cramping all over."

Salman Butt also collects the man of the match trophy on behalf Shahid Afridi.

Sangakkara: "We were driver's seat twice in the game - when we and Mahela were batting and then we had bowled 18 overs. Afridi .. it was the best I have seen him bat. It was a great knock. Kulasekara, Angelo bowled very well and then Lasith Malinga came in and looked as if he would get wicket every over. Maharoof did well. Afridi played really well. then Malinga came and did a brilliant job. It was a catch-22 for me whether to give Murali a over to Afridi. He is the best spinner in the world. It's very rare that he gives so many runs. All credit to Afridi for playing a special knock. Angelo Mathews batted really well and Malinga too contributed in the end. We probably did the basics well in patches but we have to pretty ruthless .. when we have down like this we should finish it off."

That's it from us. I will leave you with a comment from a reader - Radical Zee: "Talk about being the perfect marketing tool to support the case for the survival of the 50-over game. What a contest! Hats off to both the teams. Such a Pakistan recovery would have never been possible in a T20 game. Such a magnificent death over spell would never been possible in a T20 4-over spell. 50-over game is the right time for an absorbing contest. Believe it or not."

Alvida!

Subir: "How easy it is commenting. You say Razzaq should have taken initiative. If Razzaq HAD taken initiative when Afridi was wobbling you'd say - "Why did he need to do it. Afridi was hitting. He only needed to get support""

Malinga has one over left. Razzaq is the man for Pakistan.

Razzaq has been batting like as if he has been in a trance. He has just taken care that he doesn't lose his wicket. He has not taken control. Even when Afridi was limping, Razzaq didn't show any initiative. He should have taken control after Afridi fell but he didn't. He has to take control now. Wil he?