Paktel Cup: The Final

[Shaka]

From the BBC news site:

Shoaib doubtful for final


One-day international, Lahore: Pakistan v Sri Lanka
Match due to start 0945 BST Saturday


Atapattu and Inzamam are unhappy at the start time



Pakistan and Sri Lanka have failed to persuade officials to bring forward the start of Saturday's Paktel Cup final in Lahore.

The game will start at 0945 BST but both captains fear dew on the outfield may affect the outcome.

"It is not easy bowling and fielding in such conditions," said Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq.

Their pace bowler, Shoaib Akhtar, could miss the game after suffering a hamstring strain.

"The dew factor is very important here under lights," said Sri Lanka's Marvan Atapattu.

"Fielding in the second session is not easy and for the bowlers, holding the ball is not easy as well."

Despite their concerns, the Pakistan Cricket Board said various factors, including TV broadcast timings, had influenced their decision.

"We discussed the proposal, but it's not possible," said spokesman Abbas Zaidi.

Pakistan came through the round robin phase, also involving Zimbabwe, with four wins out of four.

They are full of confidence but the way his bowlers were punished as Sri Lanka piled up 293-6 was not to Inzamam's liking.

Shoaib Akhtar: "I am keen to play and go flat out but at the moment I have a 50-50 chance"






And having Mohammad Sami ordered out of the attack for intimidatory bowling after sending down two beamers was a further cause for concern.

Shoaib Akhtar conceded 30 from four overs and he could miss the final after suffering a hamstring problem.

"We will only know the extent of his injury after doctors have assessed it," said Inzamam.

"We don't want to take a risk because of the two-Test series immediately after the final."

Sri Lanka will finalise their team after seamer Farveez Maharoof undergoes a fitness check on an ankle injury which forced him to miss Thursday's match

They must also decide whether to reinforce their spin attack by recalling Kaushal Lokuarachchi.

"I guess we are one world-class bowler [injured spinner Muttiah Muralitharan] short in our line-up. I'm sure he would have done wonders here," Atapattu added.

He hopes memories of their 1996 World Cup final win over Australia at the Gadaffi Stadium will help lift the team.

"Every Sri Lankan still relishes the World Cup win we had in Lahore."



Pakistan (from): Inzamam-ul Haq (capt), Yasir Hameed, Salman Butt, Shahid Afridi, Bazid Khan, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Yousuf Youhana, Moin Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Sami, Shoaib Akhtar, Rana Naved-ul-Hassan, Rao Iftikhar

Sri Lanka (from): Marvan Atapattu (capt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Saman Jayantha, Avishka Gunawardene, Farveez Maharoof, Chaminda Vaas, Upul Chandana, Nuwan Zoysa, Dilhara Fernando, Thilina Kandamby, Rangana Herath, Kaushal Lokuarachchi.

[Shaka]

Looks like Shoaib may miss out because of a hamstring injury...that's the official story at least. If he does I assume that Rao Iftikhar will be his replacement.

[fair_&_balance]

Best of luck to Pakistan. I think they would be able to defeat that Tiger-at-Home team.

[Maranello]

Yeh I am still not sure about Rao. He has a decidedly ungainly action... aesthetics are important! but I agree he is the onyl replacement for Shaoib in the current ODI squad

[Nikhil]

Pakistan look to be deep in trouble at the moment.

Sri Lanka 287/7 (50 ov)
Pakistan 131/5 (28.0 ov)  Pakistan require another 157 runs with 5 wickets and 22.0 overs remaining

Pakistan RR: 4.68
Required RR: 7.14

This partnership must last long. I do not think Afridi will be able to carry them through if they have to score more than 100.

[Nikhil]

Oh no! It looks all over for Pakistan. Afridi has just departed, trying to slog once more. I do not think there is any miracle in the offings now.

[Shaka]

Pakistan collapsed to 168 all out after being 84-1 at one stage, and were well beaten in the end. So with the vagaries of this format, Sri Lanka win the tournament despite only winning two matches against Pakistan's 4 wins.

In the end though the game did provide a glimpse of a chink in Pakistan's ODI armour. Although we have lots of all-rounders in the team there are only 4 specialist batsmen.When it goes to plan, the openers see off the new ball and the middle order cruise through the rest of the match. It comes unstuck though if Inzimam and Youhanna fail IF we are playing against a quality spin attack. In my view, having watched quite a lot of Pakistan last couple of years, only Inzimam and Youhanna are good players of spin, and allrounders like Razzaq have always struggled. Once Inzi and Yoyo were out I think you could have given the rest of the team 3 innings each and they still wouldn't have got anywhere near the score. 8 of the Pakistani wickets went down against spin.

On the plus side, young Salman Butt once again stood up very well to Sri Lanka's new ball attack and might just have played himself into the test team. He plays the ball late and adjusts to late movement quite well. SL's pace quartet all bowled very well and with good discipline. They were much better than Pakistan's fast bowlers on the day, showing once again that line and length are more important than speed and flamboyance.

[Maranello]

Would Asim Kamal be a good punt against quality bowling attacks, to beef up the middle order?

[fair_&_balance]

Originally Posted by Shaka

Pakistan collapsed to 168 all out after being 84-1 at one stage, and were well beaten in the end. So with the vagaries of this format, Sri Lanka win the tournament despite only winning two matches against Pakistan's 4 wins.

In the end though the game did provide a glimpse of a chink in Pakistan's ODI armour. Although we have lots of all-rounders in the team there are only 4 specialist batsmen.When it goes to plan, the openers see off the new ball and the middle order cruise through the rest of the match. It comes unstuck though if Inzimam and Youhanna fail IF we are playing against a quality spin attack. In my view, having watched quite a lot of Pakistan last couple of years, only Inzimam and Youhanna are good players of spin, and allrounders like Razzaq have always struggled. Once Inzi and Yoyo were out I think you could have given the rest of the team 3 innings each and they still wouldn't have got anywhere near the score. 8 of the Pakistani wickets went down against spin.

On the plus side, young Salman Butt once again stood up very well to Sri Lanka's new ball attack and might just have played himself into the test team. He plays the ball late and adjusts to late movement quite well. SL's pace quartet all bowled very well and with good discipline. They were much better than Pakistan's fast bowlers on the day, showing once again that line and length are more important than speed and flamboyance.

I think law of averages cought up with Pakistanis. You cant be winning all the matches. Even mighty Aussies lose one in a while.Anyway ,I agree Salman Butt seems to be a very good fit and fact there there is a vacant place for openor in Test matches due know,he has given himself a good chance to cement that place. If Salman is able to do this then this will be big boost for pakistani team right before AUS tour. Opening is biggest problem for Pakistani team. Remember in AUS to succeed you dont want your middle order to face new ball. THis was key to success of Indian batsmen in last tour of AUS.

[Shaka]

Originally Posted by fair_&_balance

I think law of averages cought up with Pakistanis. You cant be winning all the matches. Even mighty Aussies lose one in a while.

That's true but it doesn't change the fact that only Yoyo and Inzi are very good players of spin. Still, no side can be perfect in every dept and where we might have a slight weakness here, it's compensated by other strengths. We did after all win our previous two matches against SL comfortably and I think 3 in a row against India so yes you are right probably shouldn't make too much of one defeat.

Maranello,

Who would Asim Kamal replace? I don't think the bowlers we have at the moment are consistent enough to go in with only 5 bowlers so I would rather stick with the allrounders giving us the option of a 6th bowler, it has been working ok mostly.