Afridi helps Pakistan end the tour on a high

By pratik
for Cricketain.com

Published: August 13, 2009

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Colombo: Pakistan’s new Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi starred with both bat and ball to propel the world champions to a comprehensive 52-run win over Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

Afridi smashed 50 off 37 balls to take Pakistan to a score of 172 in their 20 overs and then returned with economical figures of 1-21 in 4 overs as Sri Lanka was bowled out for 120 with almost 2 overs to spare.

This was the first time that these two teams were playing in a twenty20 match since the final of the Twenty20 World Cup where Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets. Sri Lanka’s plans of avenging their defeat weren’t to be this time too as Afridi with help from Rana Naved and Saeed Ajmal made sure that Pakistan came out on top again.

Pakistan, who elected to bat after winning the toss, lost a wicket off the first ball when Kamran Akmal was bowled by Nuwan Kulasekara after attempting a big heave.

The other opener, Imran Nazir, cracked five fours and a six in his 40 off 28 balls to boost the total as Pakistan moved to 59-3 by the eighth over. Teenager Umar Akmal, who hit a 20-ball 30, put on 66 for the fourth wicket with Afridi.

Abdul Razzaq and Misbah-ul Haq added a quickfire 33 as Pakistan plundered 47 runs in the last five overs to leave Sri Lanka facing a daunting target of 8.7 runs an over.

Sri Lanka lost wickets at regular intervals with skipper Kumar Sangakkara the only batsman to offer resistance against the fired-up Pakistanis with 38 off 31 balls. Rana Naved and Saeed Ajmal picked up three wickets each for Pakistan while Afridi himself bowled a tight spell giving away just 21 runs in his 4 overs and picking up the wicket of Kapugedara.

Afridi, who was man of the match in both the semi-final and final at the World Cup, once again won the award as Pakistan ended an otherwise dismal tour of Sri Lanka on a winning note.

Pakistan had faced a whitewash in the preceding Test series 2-0 and conceded the one-dayers 3-2 during the six-week tour. Afridi hit two sixes and four boundaries in his innings after taking over the Twenty20 team from Test and one-day skipper Younus Khan, who has retired from the shortest format of the game.

“I told the boys before the match that we were world champions and so we should go out there and play like champions,” the 29-year-old Afridi said. “I am an aggressive captain and I wanted the whole team to play aggressively. That is what we did and I must congratulate the whole team for a fantastic win.”

Sangakkara blamed the defeat on a poor all-round display.

“I think we gave Pakistan 20-25 extra runs,” he said. “We would have been happier chasing around 150 and although we got a good start, we fell away at the end.”

“We have to learn from this and improve the next time we get on the field.”

Sri Lanka will now take on New Zealand in a two-Test series starting in Galle on Tuesday.

Brief Scores:

Pakistan 172 for 5 (Afridi 50, Nazir 40, Thushara 2-37) beat Sri Lanka 120 (Sangakkara 38, Ajmal 3-18, Naved 3-19) by 52 runs

Man of the Match: Shahid Afridi (Pakistan)

Tagged with: Abdul Razzaq, Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal, Kumar Sangakkara, Misbah-Ul-Haq, New Zealand, Nuwan Kulasekara, Pakistan, Rana Naved, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Sri Lanka, Twenty20, Twenty20 World Cup, Umar Akmal, World Cup, Younus Khan

Afridi helps Pakistan end the tour on a high

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