Brilliant exhibition of pace bowling from Pakistan bowlers. I loved their length. I have never seen such a disciplined length from a Pakistan pace unit. Junaid Khan, Mohammad Amir and Hassan Ali consistently hit the good and back of a length and made the ball bounce from there to fetch wickets at regular interval.
After 31 overs, Sri Lanka lost four wickets for six runs and it was a typical Pakistani style to claw back into the game. Sri Lanka’s batting lost their way in that phase of the match and I must praise Sarfraz Ahmed’s attacking captaincy. Even in the middle overs he kept a slip in position and maintained an attacking field.
It was a very good batting track and chasing this total should not have been a tough task for Pakistan batting line-up. But, Pakistan transformed an easy match into a difficult one and now we all have to say this match a thrilling encounter.
Sarfraz Ahmed paid the perfect tribute to Javed Miandad on his birthday. He was like a Karachi street fighter, whose one and only intention was to pull the match out of the fire and return to the pavilion as the hero of the day. He finished the job today like Javed used to do for Pakistan in the past and at the other end, Mohammad Amir provided the most important support to his captain.
Amir’s tail-end heroics once failed to script victory for Pakistan against New Zealand eight years ago at Abu Dhabi when he and Saeed Ajmal stitched a 103-run partnership for the last wicket and took Pakistan to the brink of victory, but fell short for just eight runs. Thankfully, Amir’s gallant effort did not go in vain at Cardiff.
I feel sorry for Lasith Malinga who, once again, rose to the occasion to give Sri Lanka the perfect breakthrough during the crucial passage of play, but sadly, lady luck was very impressed with Sarfraz today. You have to agree, fortune favours the brave.
Yet again it is proved, low scoring matches are always a joy to watch.
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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