da mrbet： This was as exciting a semi-final as one could have hoped for
Charlie Austin24-Jan-2000This was as exciting a semi-final as one could have hoped for. Infront of easily the largest and most vocal crowd of the tournament,Sri Lanka beat an experienced Pakistan side by 10 runs. Their victory,the result of a quite brilliant display in the field and some overlycautious batting by the experienced Pakistan captain.Hazan Raza, when he reflects on this match on the way back toPakistan, will surely rue an innings of undue caution that put hislower order under intense pressure in the final few freneticovers. When he was finally run out in the 40th over he had scored 44off 108 deliveries. Whilst the Sri Lankan bowling was extremelyaccurate and their fielding quite exceptional, a batsmen of his classshould have been able to score quicker.In his defence, Pakistan?s pursuit of Sri Lanka?s 219 was dealta cruel blow when they lost early wickets and collapsed to 28-3.Ganegama was the architect of this situation with a fine opening spellof 2-13 from 8 overs. Nissanka though was the first to strike when heinduced a top edged hook from Pakistan?s other test batsmen, ImranNazir, in his first over. The catch was comfortably taken by hisopening partner who then trapped both Taufeeq Umar (0) and ImranFarhat (4) leg before.Faisal Iqbal then joined Hasan Raza at the crease. Both decided on apolicy of cautious consolidation that left them 51-3 after 20overs. With the run rate now climbing and Raza still not in singlefigures, Faisal Iqbal decided to take the initiative by liftingDhammika over the mid-wicket fence for six. Having engineered somemomentum he went on to score 53 in 72 balls (5×4, 1×6).Just when Iqbal?s innings looked to be turning the game, for theumpteenth occasion in this match, a sprinting Ganegama brilliantlycaught him on the square leg boundary. Ending a 96 run partnership, ittriggered the fall of two more quick wickets in the 39th and 40th overand was undoubtedly the most crucial moment of the match.Humayan Farhat (11) mistimed a lofted straight drive and wasconfidently caught by Kamdambi on the long off fence. Four balls laterRaza?s selfish vigil ended when he was run out. His dismissal leftthe lower order needing to score 7.5 runs per over off the last tenovers with only four wickets remaining.In front of this noisy home crowd such a task was always going to bedifficult. To their credit Babar Naeem (20) and Yasir Arafat (27)didn?t give up. Raising Pakistani hopes with a bold 38 runpartnership they had started to unsettle the Sri Lankans. Thefielding became frenetic and a couple of catches were dropped.Babar Naeem was then stupidly run out after his partner set off for arun without calling. When Yasir Arafat was caught and bowledimmediately afterwards, Pakistan?s chances of winning hadevaporated, the 15 runs required off the final over proving to be fartoo many for the last pair.Earlier, the Sri Lankans, after winning the toss and electing to baton flat but slow paced pitched, were bowled out for 219. They wouldhave scored more if it were not for some appalling running between thewickets. Five run outs in the innings, four of them by Hasan Raza,were unaccepatable. Especially when you consider that only one ofthem was a direct hit.Ian Daniels (57) and Pushpakumara (47) were the stars of the SriLankan innings, rescuing their side from 79-4 in the 18th over.Together they put on 59 in quick time. Prepared to attack the Pakistanspinners and part-time bowlers, they quickly regained the initiativefor the home team. Unfortunately this initiative was squandered,albeit not fatally, by the reckless running between the wickets.