Tour and tournament reports

Pakistan v Sri Lanka

A review of matches in the Warid Cricket Series, 2007

Osman Samiuddin
Osman Samiuddin
15-Apr-2008
At Abu Dhabi, May 22, 2007 (day/night). Sri Lanka won by 115 runs. Toss: Sri Lanka. One-day international debuts: Fawad Alam, Najaf Shah.
Panic and Dilhara Fernando combined in equal measure to make sure that Tom Moody's tenure as Sri Lanka's coach ended on a happy note. Pakistan were just beginning to make sense of their stiff run-chase when Mohammad Hafeez became the first of three run-outs - two of them direct hits by Dilshan - sparking a crumbling from 61 for one to 70 for six. Fernando shed his perennial no-ball issues, kept his pace, and blew the middle order away, dismissing Yasir Hameed then claiming Mohammad Yousuf and the highly touted debutant Fawad Alam with successive balls in his next over. Fernando rightly won the match award, but he was run mighty close by Mahela Jayawardene, whose handsome 83 set up Sri Lanka's big total. Silva provided steady company, their stand of 124 ensuring that another good start was not squandered, although the eventual margin of victory suggested it might not have mattered.
Men of the Series: D. P. M. D. Jayawardene and Shahid Afridi.

Osman Samiuddin is Pakistan editor of Cricinfo