Pakistan aim to square series

Match facts

Sunday, June 3, 2012
Start time 1900 (1330 GMT)

Pakistan landed in Sri Lanka with a new captain and a new coaching set-up. But then some old problems returned to trouble them. In the tour opener, the Pakistan batsmen squandered a good opportunity to take a lead in the two-match series. On Sunday, they can at best aim to square the series.

Pakistan have enough ability and experience in their ranks to bounce back. For that to happen, the batsmen will need to play a tighter game and rotate the strike more often - they played out 60 dot balls in their innings and crawled to 23 during the Powerplay overs.

Pakistan's bowlers were steady until the last few overs. However, the decision to play Mohammad Sami in the XI did raise a few questions. Players like Yasir Arafat and Hammad Azam, who are only part of the Twenty20 squad, could have been tested ahead of Sami, who has also been picked for the five-match ODI series.

Sri Lanka didn't play a great game, but were just a notch better - Thisara Perera and Angelo Mathews made the difference. Sri Lanka's top-order trio which sporadically fired in the IPL, failed on Friday night. However, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara are as good as any in world cricket and if they can find some form, the talented middle order can put Pakistan under pressure on a slow pitch.

After a thumping win, Sri Lanka chose to stay away from practice on Saturday, while the Pakistan team trained in the evening. The match is expected to draw better crowds on Sunday as Monday is a public holiday in Sri Lanka.

Form guide

(most recent first)

Pakistan: LLLWW
Sri Lanka: WLWWW

Angelo Mathews had a forgettable IPL season with Pune Warriors. But he did bowl regularly in the tournament, his injury concerns taking a back seat. That experience seemed to help as Mathews bowled a mean spell on Friday. One of the most talented allrounders around, Mathews would look to translate his bowling success to his batting.

Like Mathews, Pakistan's Umar Akmal oozes talent. In the last year, though, he has lost his place in the Test team. But with his hard-hitting and technically-sound batting style, he continues to be a dangerous player in the shorter formats.

Pakistan's three allrounders - Hafeez, Afridi and Shoaib Malik - are more than handy given the conditions in Sri Lanka and with Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal being automatic choices, Pakistan could consider going for a batsman.

Pakistan (possible): 1 Mohammad Hafeez (capt), 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Umar Akmal, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Khalid Latif/Haris Sohail, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Shakeel Ansar (wk), 8 Sohail Tanvir, 9 Mohammad Sami/Hammad Azam/Yasir Arafat, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Saeed Ajmal.

Sri Lanka may field the same XI that won on Friday.

Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Thisara Perera, 7 Lahiru Thirimanne, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Kaushal Lokuarachchi, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11. Sachithra Senanayake.

Stats and trivia

• Pakistan and Sri Lanka have played each other eight times in T20Is, with Pakistan winning five.
• Shoaib Malik is the leading run-scorer in Pakistan-Sri Lanka T20Is with 195 runs.

Quotes

"A score of 132 was still chaseable but if your main batsmen fail then it's very difficult to win such games."
Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez blamed the batsmen for the loss in the first T20I.

"I have enjoyed a fair amount of success as an opener in Twenty20, but my presence at the top depends on the team combination."
Mahela Jayawardene