The character that this largely inexperienced Sri Lankan has shown throughout their on-going tour of Pakistan finally bore fruits as they outplayed the No.1 ranked T20I side in the world in their own backyard. On an exhilarating occasion marked by the return of International Cricket to the country, thousands of fans thronged the Gaddafi Stadium of Lahore. But the Islanders were quick in spoiling the party and clinical in registering their first win of the trip, thus far. Flabbergasted by a 64-run thumping defeat at the hands of an eighth-ranked, second-stringed Sri Lankan team, Pakistan have a lot of questions to answer and they are running short of time.
Pakistan collapsed in a heap to be bowled out for a mere 101 in pursuit of a par 165. Courtesy of a fine opening stand of 84 runs, Sri lanka raced to 135/2 in the 16th over after being put in to bat by the hosts. The home side did an excellent job in the latter overs to restrict the visitors, much credit to the 19 year-old, tearaway pacer who sealed a hattrick and became the youngest cricketer to pick one in the format.
Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal, on a comeback trail, faltered on their return as they misfired and opened the gates for the Sri Lankan bowling battery. Akmal played all over a straight delivery and was stone-dead in front of the stumps on his very first delivery. Shehzad, on the contrary, commenced cautiously before chopping one back onto his stumps.
Sarfraz Ahmed was appreciative of the Sri Lankan effort but feels Pakistan can stamp back their authority in the next game: "In T20s we can't take any team lightly. Credit to them, they kept it tight with the ball and in the field in the middle overs. We didn't have a good day with the ball, but at one stage it looked like they would get to 170-180 and Hasnain brought us back well. God willing, we'll do well in the next game."
Pakistan’s team selection for the first encounter was much critiqued after two of their in-form batters, Fakhar Zaman and Haris Sohail were sidelined. Instead, the team management decided to play both Asif Ali and Iftikhar Ahmed, leaving a potential loophole in the middle order. With one game down and the entire pressure on them, the hosts are expected to tinker quite a bit with their playing XI.
Pakistan’s Likely XI: 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Babar Azam, 3 Haris Sohail, 4 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt, wk), 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Iftikhar Ahmed, 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Shadab Khan, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Mohammad Amir, 11 Usman Shinwari/ Mohammad Hasnain
Sri Lanka, conversely, will be mightily pleased with their overwhelming effort on Saturday evening. They looked immensely disciplined in all departments despite the lack of exposure amongst several players when it comes to International Cricket. It was the kind of clinical performance the visiting side would have hoped for in the just-concluded three-match ODI series, which they lost 2-0.
Nuwan Pradeep, Isuru Udana and Wanindu Hasaranga shared eight wickets between them as Sri Lanka wrapped up a comfortable victory. On a slightly two-paced trough, the likes of Pradeep and Udana bowled with a lot of heart: keeping it in the right places and not trying to overdo anything. Bhanuka Rajapaks’s inclusion proved to be a blessing in disguise as he put up a show of calculated hitting and especially took Hasnain to the cleaners. In him, Sri Lanka seem to have unearthed a handy southpaw.
Sri Lanka’s stand-in T20I captain, Dasun Shanaka was mightily pleased by the result on Saturday: "It's a great achievement without our top guns to beat them here. Our openers did a tremendous job for us. We had belief that once all the boys perform we'll win games."
Sri Lanka, who, after seven games without a win in the format, have now recorded back-to-back victories for the first time since March 2018 and will be itching to get a move on. The tourists are not expected to make paradigm shifts in the winning combinations:
Sri Lanka’s Likely XI: 1 Danushka Gunathilaka, 2 Avishka Fernando, 3 Shehan Jayasuriya, 4 Angelo Perera, 5 Minod Bhanuka (wk), 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 7 Lahiru Madushanka, 8 Isuru Udana, 9 Wanindu Hasaranga, 10 Kasun Rajitha, 11 Nuwan Pradeep
