da lvbet： Shahid Afridi wasn’t an entirely happy man after orchestrating “a very bigwin” over Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa, a result likely to havesignificant repercussions on Group A as the tournament progresses
Osman Samiuddin in Colombo26-Feb-2011Shahid Afridi wasn’t an entirely happy man after orchestrating “a very bigwin” over Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa, a result likely to havesignificant repercussions on Group A as the tournament progresses.Afridi was at the centre of the triumph, picking up four key wickets asPakistan overcame a late implosion in the field to sneak out with an11-run win. The haul included his 300th ODI wicket, the third Pakistani todo so and only the second player after Sanath Jayasuriya to complete 300wickets and 4000 runs in the format. With nine wickets in two games, he isfor now the leading wicket-taker in the tournament.But Pakistan’s inability to finish off games over the last year hasworried coach Waqar Younis and tonight’s performance, deservedlytriumphant ultimately, would not have eased those concerns. Sri Lanka losttheir top order with less than 100 on the board, so by the 22nd overof the chase, the game seemed done.Pakistan relaxed and proceeded to spill three catches, fluff two stumpingsand miss a host of run-out attempts over the next 20 overs, allowingChamara Silva, Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews to fight back. Amid thebedlam, they swiftly wasted two referrals and totted up 29 extras andthough Afridi felt that “80%” of the task was done by then, he warned thatimprovement was needed.Shahid Afridi is now the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with nine scalps in two games•AFP
“It’s a very big win for us, beating Sri Lanka before a capacity crowd,their own people and a strong team which has been playing very wellrecently,” Afridi said. “I think when we go ahead in this tournament ourdestination will get tougher and tougher and if we commit the samemistakes, then we will return to Pakistan very soon. We must improve. Ourfielding has been improving since the New Zealand tour, but I don’t knowwhy in this match we dropped catches and failed to take run-out chances.”The win was built on the back of contributions from older players; fiftiesfrom Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan set up the total and two wickets fromShoaib Akhtar, as well as Afridi’s haul, helped defend it. Given the blendof youth and experience in the squad, it was an important contribution.”I’m happy that seniors have taken responsibility,” he said. “Younis andMisbah are the backbone of the team, and it’s important that the captainperforms well as it sets an example for others.”Pakistan have a couple of days off now before their next game againstCanada on March 3, also at the R Premadasa. There are likely to be changesfor that game, to rest some players, but also for strategic reasons.Pakistan took an unchanged line-up into today’s game, which meant theywere using just three specialist bowlers and again not fully exploitingAbdul Razzaq: he faced four balls at the death and bowled five tidy overs.Another specialist bowler is likely to be considered. Misbah also pickedup a hamstring strain during his innings and though it is not thought tobe serious just yet, it might impact on the line-up for the Canada game.”I will sit down and plan, I will take advice from my coach and from mysenior players as it is everyone’s team,” Afridi said. “Winning is veryimportant for us, it is a good habit and we should try to win every matchand play hard with our strength. I think we will give rest to some of ourplayers but definitely we want to win each and every game.”