Inzy was really suffering, so we gave him a runner: Jayasuriya

Pakistan captain Moin Khan had good cause to be happy after his team had swept to their third consecutive trophy triumph in the shorter version of the game this season, after the victories in Sharjah and the West Indies. He was obviously delighted with his own hurricane knock which won him the man of the match award, terming it as one of his best ODI innings.

"The pitch was very good and we were trying to keep wickets in hand and hit freely in the final overs." Coach Javed Miandad admitted that he had gestured to Inzamam to come back to the dressing room since he was missing so many runs because of his leg injury. As it turned out Sri Lankan skipper Sanath Jayasuriya was kind enough to grant him a runner in the fleet footed Imran Nazir.

Questioned about that moment of generosity, Jayasuriya pointed out that he had initially refused to grant Inzy a runner because he was carrying an old injury into the game. "But he was really suffering, so we gave it to him", he said. Jayasuriya was at a loss for words when asked about the apalling fielding display that the Lankans dished out today although he contended that on one or two occasions, the ball had been lost by the fielders in the glare of the floodlights.

In a match where only 39 runs separated the two sides, Jayasuriya believed that it might have been a different story if the Lankans had kept Pakistan down to 240. "Only the fielding was disappointing. We lacked nothing else. It was one of those days. The batsmen batted all right", said Jayasuriya, who also dismissed any suggestion that the loss would affect their morale ahead of the forthcoming series between the two nations.

Moin was all praise for coach Javed Miandad, "Javed bhai has been working very hard with the youngsters". But Miandad himself, ever the showman during his playing days, was quick to assign credit to the players themselves. "You can't take anything away from the boys. I am just a man from behind the scenes. I can't talk about myself. What I can say is that it was a total team effort both from inside and outside".

Both Moin and Javed exuded confidence ahead of the series in Sri Lanka, saying they were really looking forward to putting the memory of their loss at home to the same opponents, behind them. Moin went on to add that Waqar Younis who was not named in the original tour party would be joining the side as the 17th player.