Pakistan stun Sri Lanka with lower order heist

Pakistan 174-9 (Anwar Ali 46) beat
Sri Lanka 172-7 (Kapugedera 48no) by one wicket
Second Twenty20 International, Colombo
Scorecard

Anwar Ali played a magnificent cameo down the order as Pakistan came back to clinch a sensationally thrilling win beating Sri Lanka by one wicket with four balls to spare in the second Twenty20 International in Colombo.

Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first. Kusal Perera (19) gave them a good start but Tillakaratne Dilshan (10), who was dropped on six, gave Mohammad Hafeez another chance couple of balls later that was accepted gleefully.

Perera’s cameo was ended the next over by Shoaib Malik (2-16) who breached his defence.

Shehan Jayasuriya (40) started brilliantly with multiple fours as Sri Lanka scored 48 for two after six overs.

Sri Lanka were in a slight spot of bother when Shahid Afridi (1-30) castled the stumps of Dhananjaya de Silva (14).

Malik struck again the next over getting rid of Thisara Perera (1) as Sri Lanka managed only 65 for four after 10 overs.

However, Jayasuriya brought them back with a 14-run over off Afridi, including a six and four.

Sohail Tanvir (1-44) ended Jayasuriya’s 32-ball cameo as Sri Lanka reached 113 for five after 15 overs.

But some powerful hitting saw Sri Lanka manage 59 runs in the last five overs thanks largely to a 55-run partnership between Milinda Siriwardana (23) and Chamara Kapugedera (48 not out) that came in just 34 balls, thanks to the latter’s 25-ball innings.

Sri Lanka finished on 172 for seven after their 20 overs with Malik being the pick of the Pakistan bowlers. 

Pakistan had a bad start to their chase when Binura Fernando (2-33) bowled a double-wicket over first getting Ahmed Shehzad (7) with an off-cutter and then Mukhtar Ahmed (4) with a bouncer that was top edged to deep mid-wicket.

Hafeez (11) was run out against the run of play thanks to Dilshan’s electric fielding as Pakistan were in deep trouble at 34 for three after six overs.

Things went from bad to worse when Umar Akmal (4) was run out as well in the seventh over.

Siriwardana (1-17) picked up Malik’s (8) wicket as he was stumped charging down the track.

Afridi (45) got things moving from 48 for five after nine overs by taking on Siriwardana and scoring 13 runs in the 10th over.

Jeffrey Vandersay (0-19) went for 15 in the 12th over as Afridi hit two sixes in his over to take Pakistan to 88 for five after 12 overs.

Jayasuriya (1-37), on debut, struck the big blow when he got Afridi out with a ball that slid past the bat and clipped off stump, ending the skipper’s 22-ball blazing knock.

Pakistan were 113 for seven after 15 overs, needing 60 runs off 30 balls with just their tail, and looked well out of contention.

However, Ali (46) changed the complexion of the game with some stunning batting.

He hit Jayasuriya for 21 runs in the 17th over including two sixes and a four and then took another 12 runs from Thisara’s (1-27) over to take Pakistan to 153 for seven after 18 overs.

He took Pakistan to the doorstep of victory scoring 12 off Lasith Malinga’s (1-40) first three balls in the penultimate over.

His scintillating 17-ball knock was however ended by Malinga when he nicked one to the wicket-keeper. Tanvir (1) was run out off the last ball of that 14-run over as Pakistan went to 167 for nine after 19 overs requiring six off the last six balls.

Imad Wasim (24) ended the game daringly with a magnificent six over deep mid-wicket, helping Pakistan clinch the nail-biting thriller and take the T20 series 2-0.

Pakistan have therefore won the Test, ODI and T20 series on this tour. 

© Cricket World 2015