Pakistan Overwhelm Sri Lanka

Col (Retd) Rafi Nasim

June 24, 2000

With defeat staring in the face, Sri Lanka resumed the innings at 45 for 1, trailing by 374 runs. There were few spectators around to watch the game. Facing the Pakistan bowling with full confidence, the batsmen tried to dig in. They were picking up runs where possible without taking any risks. Marvan Atapattu (30) and Russel Arnold (20) raised Sri Lanka to 76 for 1 after 10 overs of the day.

Pakistan bowlers working hard to break the partnership succeeded when Russel Arnold was trapped LBW by Waqar Younis for 26. Sri Lanka lost the 2nd wicket for 91, and were 123 for 2 at lunch.

The period after lunch brought crisis to Sri Lanka when Atapattu was smartly held by Moin Khan off Arshad Khan, after contributing an invaluable 59 to Sri Lanka's total of 123 for 3. Aravinda De Silva was the next to leave, when Arshad Khan made him snick to Mohammad Wasim fielding at forward short leg for 4. Sri Lanka thus lost the 4th precious wicket with only 130 runs on the score board.

Former skipper Arjuna Ranatunga took the crease with tremendous confidence. With his vast experience of the game, he was obviously expected to stem the rot. Yes, he stood there like a rock but could not possibly guarantee the other end that remained vulnerable. Jayawardene left after scoring only 9 runs, and was followed by Kaluwitharana who also contributed the same number.

At tea Sri Lanka was 189 for 6 with Ranatunga holding the fort with a solid 39. The other end manned by the tail enders now and the game dominated by the Pakistan bowlers, it looked a matter of time only.

Ranatunga who played the sheet anchor for Pakistan batted gallantly under the adverse conditions. Knowing that he could not prevent the inevitable, he tried to contribute the maximum. In partnership with Vaas, he raised the score to 230 when he was trapped LBW by Wasim Akram after a defiant innings of 65.

With Sri Lanka having lost the cream of batsmen the rest was more of an academic exercise. The remaining 3 players, Chaminda Vaas, Pushpakumara and Muralitharan, left one after the other. Muralitharan, however, delighted the crowd by hitting all sort of funny strokes. He scored 22 runs in a hurricane spell of 8 balls.

Sri Lanka was all out for 256 runs. Pakistan thus defeated Sri Lanka by an innings and 153 runs. To recount the salient features, Waqar Younis was the chief wrecker of Sri Lanka's innings with a magnificent haul of 4 wickets. Arjuna Ranatunga played a gallant innings of 65 runs but could not save Sri Lanka alone. For a breathtaking 100 and 2 wickets, Wasim Akram was "Man of the Match."

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Matches

Sri Lanka v Pakistan at Galle

Series/Tournaments

Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka