Sri Lanka hold fort in series of collapses

The last time Sri Lanka and Pakistan played a Test series, in Pakistan earlier this year, it made the headline for all the wrong reasons, with a dull draw in Karachi followed by the shocking attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore which terminated the game. This time, though, the three-Test series produced some riveting cricket, with Sri Lanka completing their first series win against Pakistan at home.

The win for the hosts was significant as it was achieved without the services of two of their bowling stalwarts. Sri Lanka won only their fifth Test (and first series) in the absence of Muttiah Muralitharan since he made his debut, and beat an opposition only for the third time (during the second Test at the P Sara Oval) with both Murali and Vaas missing a game. One or both of these players have featured (either together or individually) in 53 of Sri Lanka's 58 wins in Tests and grabbed 50.62% (1125) of the total wickets by their team, an indication of the enormous burden they've had to bear in the past.

This time, though, the wickets were shared around: Nuwan Kulasekara led the pace attack which also included Thilan Thushara, while Rangana Herath turned out to be a matchwinning spinner. Kulasekara finished the series with 17 wickets, the highest for the series, and the most by a Sri Lankan fast bowler in a home series since Vaas' 26 wickets in three Tests against West Indies. Sri Lanka's fast bowlers shared 34 wickets this time - the second-highest by the country's seamers in a series, and the highest in a series at home. Herath's 15 wickets are the most taken by a Sri Lankan left-arm spinner in a series since Sanath Jayasuriya bagged 16 against England in 2001.

The three sessions that decided the series were largely a consequence of Pakistan's inept batting, though Sri Lanka's discipline with the ball also played a part. A total of 22 wickets fell for 146 runs in a little over 56 overs. Their batsmen struggled to spend time at the crease, and their hapless effort in the fourth innings in Galle and the first innings at the P Sara Oval rank among some of their worst performances, in terms of overs faced. In fact, Pakistan probably won more sessions than Sri Lanka, and had more centurions as well as more century stands - five compared to two. But they failed to recover after getting themselves into a hole and lost the most critical moments. Kulasekara played a prominent role in two of the three collapses, both in the second Test, while Herath starred in Sri Lanka's defence of 168 as Pakistan caved in on the fourth morning in Galle.

Sri Lanka had their problems with the bat too. They were bowled out for 217 in their second innings in Galle, lost 7 for 63 in their first innings at the P Sara Oval and 6 for 80 while batting second at the SSC. But their slide wasn't quite as dismal as Pakistan's. Taking only the first two Tests into account, Sri Lanka and Pakistan had an almost identical average for partnerships for the first five wickets - 33.42 and 33.15. But the tail offered some resistance for the hosts, while there was hardly any for Pakistan. The difference in the average partnership for wickets six to ten between the teams is almost nine runs. Thanks to a drier pitch and some sensible batting in the final Test, the numbers swell for both teams overall. (Click to get the overall statistics for Sri Lanka and Pakistan.)

Kumar Sangakkara led in style in his first series as captain, making an important 87 in the second Test to help Sri Lanka gain a handy lead and a match-saving, unbeaten 130 at the SSC during which he became the highest run-getter in the series and reached 7000 runs in Tests - only the second Sri Lankan to achieve that feat. Tharanga Paranavitana was solid as opener, scoring two fifties while Mathews was uncharacteristically stoic in his determined stand with his captain in the final Test.

Mohammad Yousuf marked a memorable comeback with a century in his first Test after almost a two-year exile, and, like Sangakkara, reached the 7000-run milestone - the third Pakistani to get there. However, he, like Shoaib Malik - Pakistan's highest run-getter this rubber - and Misbah-ul-Haq, struggled when Pakistan suffered those collapses. Fawad Alam had an impressive start to his Test career, becoming the fourth Pakistani opener to score a century on debut but it was the bowlers who took the honours. Mohammad Aamer picked up six wickets in his debut Test in Galle while Saeed Ajmal - who tops the wickets list for Pakistan in the series - took five to give Pakistan the best possible chance of taking a 1-0 lead only to have it squandered by their batsmen. Danish Kaneria picked up a five-for in his only Test in the series, while Umar Gul, though unthreatening at the SSC, along with Ajmal sparked a fightback in the second Test after his team had been bundled out for 90.

Misbah proved Kulasekara's bunny this series, getting out to him thrice for just 13 runs, but the fast bowler was dealt with reasonably well by Yousuf and Malik. Thushara was highly effective against Pakistan's top and middle order, while Herath favoured bowling to Yousuf. Paranavitana's statistics indicate how solid he proved against the Pakistan seamers while Sangakkara was impressive against each of the bowlers. Samaraweera, usually an excellent player of spin, was found out by Saeed Ajmal.