What do i say for the result of this match? I'm just speechless. The match has been drawn, even though Pakistan was in a dominating position the first three days. They slipped the match out of their hands, literally.
1st day: Pakistan was right on top this day! The position they had gained was truly dominating. Misbah won the toss and chose to field first on a batting track and was highly criticised for that, till the match started. Sri Lanka all out for 197! Each bowler except for Hafeez contributing, and young 21-year old pace bowler Junaid Khan higly impressed with a 5 wicket haul. We grabbed every opportunity we got and totally flattened the opposition on a batting track. The bowlers all bowled the right areas and lengths, courtesy to the Sri Lankan batsman too, for playing bad shots. By the end of this day, everyone was pleased with Pakistans efforts, and dissapointed with Sri Lanka's.
2nd day: Pakistan on top again. Pak: 259/1. Hafeez out on 73, while Azhar Ali and Taufeeq Umar had a good partnership going. Taufeeq had already reached three figures and Azhar had made a fifty. Sri Lanka only got one breakthrough in the ninety overs bowled that day, so credit to the Pakistani batsman for spending time patiently in the middle.
3rd day: Well done Taufeeq! Reaching a double century! Nothing but praise for this guy. This was the first double century by a Pakistani opener since 1992. He played a patient and well constructed innings, extremely impressive. Shafiq made an unbeated 26 from 94 balls, i have to admit, i expected much better then him. Especially when Pakistan was looking to push the pedal and make some quick runs. He went totally in shell and hardly played his natural game, plus there was lack of technique. He really has got a lot to learn and i think the coaches will have to work on him.
So, the end of this day Pakistan were 511-6 dec. Great right?
We declared and got to bowl at Sri Lanka for a few overs. Umar Gul; trapped opener Paranavtina first ball LBW. The rest of the day Sri Lanka easily got 43-1 but mainly because luck was with them.
4th and 5th day day: And then it all fell apart.. Drop, drop, drop and drop! Pakistan dropped 5 chances. 5! Hafeez and Younis messed up big time. Our bowlers bowled beautifully, no doubt about that. It was the butterfingers in the team that lost us the match. Hafeez dropped two consecutive edges from Junaid Khan...both sitters. I bet if the fielding had been good, Junaid would have eased to ten wickets. Basically, thanks to all the missed opportunities by the fielders, Sri Lanka reached 483 with Kumar Sangakarra making a big double hundred and prasanna jayawardene finding form with a 120. Both of them would have not gotten that far had the slip fielders been able to hold on to the ball. We had set a huge lead on them, but Sri Lanka overcame that and put us a lead of 170. We got the target of 170 in 21 overs, and we turned it down. We didnt even try even though it was possible. Had we sen Shafiq to open instead of Taufeeq or something like that. But we hardly tried!! I think that was too defensive of Misbah, as a captain, you have got to take risks sometimes. If Pakistan had lost a few early wickets, then we could have gave up the chase, but we didnt even try.
Result: A really dissapointing draw even though victory was in our hands at the beginning. At the end of the match, all the confidence and the upper hand is with Sri Lanka now.
Pakistan has GOT TO improve their fielding, letting go of opportunities can easily change the course of test matches. Our bowlers are great, but our fielders have to back them up effectively. We have a lot of positives to take from this match, such as Junaid Khans bowling and Taufeeqs batting, but the negatives can easily outshine those. We have a lot to work on.
So the series is 0-0 at the moment, the next match begins on Wednesday, and inshallah, victory will be ours.
1st day: Pakistan was right on top this day! The position they had gained was truly dominating. Misbah won the toss and chose to field first on a batting track and was highly criticised for that, till the match started. Sri Lanka all out for 197! Each bowler except for Hafeez contributing, and young 21-year old pace bowler Junaid Khan higly impressed with a 5 wicket haul. We grabbed every opportunity we got and totally flattened the opposition on a batting track. The bowlers all bowled the right areas and lengths, courtesy to the Sri Lankan batsman too, for playing bad shots. By the end of this day, everyone was pleased with Pakistans efforts, and dissapointed with Sri Lanka's.
2nd day: Pakistan on top again. Pak: 259/1. Hafeez out on 73, while Azhar Ali and Taufeeq Umar had a good partnership going. Taufeeq had already reached three figures and Azhar had made a fifty. Sri Lanka only got one breakthrough in the ninety overs bowled that day, so credit to the Pakistani batsman for spending time patiently in the middle.
3rd day: Well done Taufeeq! Reaching a double century! Nothing but praise for this guy. This was the first double century by a Pakistani opener since 1992. He played a patient and well constructed innings, extremely impressive. Shafiq made an unbeated 26 from 94 balls, i have to admit, i expected much better then him. Especially when Pakistan was looking to push the pedal and make some quick runs. He went totally in shell and hardly played his natural game, plus there was lack of technique. He really has got a lot to learn and i think the coaches will have to work on him.
So, the end of this day Pakistan were 511-6 dec. Great right?
We declared and got to bowl at Sri Lanka for a few overs. Umar Gul; trapped opener Paranavtina first ball LBW. The rest of the day Sri Lanka easily got 43-1 but mainly because luck was with them.
4th and 5th day day: And then it all fell apart.. Drop, drop, drop and drop! Pakistan dropped 5 chances. 5! Hafeez and Younis messed up big time. Our bowlers bowled beautifully, no doubt about that. It was the butterfingers in the team that lost us the match. Hafeez dropped two consecutive edges from Junaid Khan...both sitters. I bet if the fielding had been good, Junaid would have eased to ten wickets. Basically, thanks to all the missed opportunities by the fielders, Sri Lanka reached 483 with Kumar Sangakarra making a big double hundred and prasanna jayawardene finding form with a 120. Both of them would have not gotten that far had the slip fielders been able to hold on to the ball. We had set a huge lead on them, but Sri Lanka overcame that and put us a lead of 170. We got the target of 170 in 21 overs, and we turned it down. We didnt even try even though it was possible. Had we sen Shafiq to open instead of Taufeeq or something like that. But we hardly tried!! I think that was too defensive of Misbah, as a captain, you have got to take risks sometimes. If Pakistan had lost a few early wickets, then we could have gave up the chase, but we didnt even try.
Result: A really dissapointing draw even though victory was in our hands at the beginning. At the end of the match, all the confidence and the upper hand is with Sri Lanka now.
Pakistan has GOT TO improve their fielding, letting go of opportunities can easily change the course of test matches. Our bowlers are great, but our fielders have to back them up effectively. We have a lot of positives to take from this match, such as Junaid Khans bowling and Taufeeqs batting, but the negatives can easily outshine those. We have a lot to work on.
So the series is 0-0 at the moment, the next match begins on Wednesday, and inshallah, victory will be ours.
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| Both Sangakarra and Taufeeq reached great double hundreds, but Sanga's was more impressive as thats what saved Sri Lnka from losing. |
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