After weeks of turmoil for Pakistan cricket, a severely depleted Pakistan side walked onto the field against Sri Lanka in their opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2006. After the Oval fiasco, Younis Khan resigned from captaincy, only to be reinstated two days later. During those two days, Dr. Nasim Ashraf replaced Shahryar Khan as Chairman, PCB. When it seemed things were getting back on track, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif were sent home a day before their match for failing a PCB-conducted dope test.

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat. With 10 wins in last 11 outings, Sri Lanka were definitely the favourites and so they proved with a flying start. Sanath Jayasuriya pressurised Pakistani bowlers straightaway. Sri Lanka were 108 for 1 in the 18th over and a score in excess of 300 looked certain. That is when Pakistan pulled back things with wickets at regular intervals. Jayasuriya went for 48 while Tharanga (38), Jayawardene (31) and Sangakkar (39) all got starts but failed to capitalise. Atapattu and Maharoof combined in a patient 39-run partnership before Atapattu was run-out by a direct hit from Mohammad Hafeez. As Sri Lanka tried to accelerate, Abdul Razzaq kept bowling wicket-to-wicket, resulting in Maharoof, Malinga and Vaas being clean-bowled. He finished with four for 50 while Shoaib Malik had two wickets. Hafeez bowled economically towards the death, conceding only 24 runs from his seven overs. Sri Lanka were all-out for 253, a score well below their expectations.

In reply, Pakistan openers came out flashing. Imran Farhat, dropped on 25, made 53 with the help of eight fours. However, Pakistan then lost momentum as Afridi conceded his wicket, leaving Pakistan at 113 for 4. Mohammad Yousuf and Malik batted sensibly, adding 47 runs before a mix-up saw Yousuf (49) run-out for the 33rd time in his career. Kamran Akmal supported Malik as the two drove Pakistan past 200. As Akmal was dismissed by Vaas, Razzaq came in. Initially looking for singles, the two batsmen launched themselves in the 44th over. Razzaq pounded two sixes as he finished unbeaten on 38 off just 24 balls. Malik scored a well-paced 46 as Pakistan got home with 11 balls to spare. Vaas picked up two wickets while Muralitharan and Jayauriya conceded only 70 runs in their combined 20 overs. Abdul Razzaq was named Man-of-the-Match for his all-round performance.

When one expected Sri Lanka to crush a struggling Pakistan side, a unified Pakistan shook the odds and gained two valuable points. Sri Lanka need to review the mistakes they made in their batting as well as dropping two crucial catches. On the other hand, Pakistan would be relieved at the victory. However, they still need to improve their running between the wickets as well as control the number of extras. This game was the most competitive game of the ICC Champions Trophy thus far and the crowd at Jaipur must be appreciated for providing support to both the teams.

© Copyright 2006. PointCricket.