Spinners snuff out Lanka's challenge and put Pakistan 'A' in final

BY SA'ADI Thawfeeq

SPINNERS Imran Tahir and Ashar Zaidi took nine wickets between them to enable Pakistan 'A' beat Sri Lanka 'A' by 73 runs at the Moors SC grounds yesterday and clinch a place in the tri-nation one-day final.

Tahir took five for 30 in nine overs of right-arm leg-spin and Zaidi picked up four for 42 off 9.2 overs bowling left-arm spin to follow his innings of 64 off 97 balls (5 fours, 1 six).

Put into bat on a pitch which Sri Lanka 'A' thought would assist their four-pronged seam attack, Pakistan rattled off the highest total of the competition by scoring an impressive 290-5 off 50 overs with Hasan Raza making a top score of 74 not out off 56 balls (9 fours, 2 sixes) and skipper Misbah-ul-Haq an aggressive 62 off 56 balls (6 fours, 2 sixes).

Sri Lanka 'A's decision to send the opposition backfired when openers Zaidi and Faisal Athar put on 84 off 134 balls before being separated.

Wanting a win badly under their belt Sri Lanka 'A' were on course to challenge Pakistan 'A's total when they were 200-4 in the 37th over. But the dismissal of Prasanna Jayawardene for 22 by Zaidi triggered a sensational collapse and Sri Lanka 'A' lost their last six wickets for 17 runs off 33 balls to be all out for 217 in 42.2 overs.

It was a huge disappointment in the end after they had been given some hope by the top order with Michael Vandort scoring a stylish 72 off 77 balls (11 fours) and Russel Arnold striking his third consecutive half-century of the tournament by scoring 68 off 91 balls (8 fours).

"It was just a matter of the batsmen applying themselves and batting in partnerships and getting through the overs to get us the runs," said Sri Lanka 'A' coach Stan Nel. "As I have already commented probably there are one or two guys lacking in desire to play for their country."

The continued poor form of team captain Jehan Mubarak and vice-captain Thilina Kandamby certainly had a huge effect on the team's performances. In the three matches played so far Mubarak's contribution has been four runs off eight balls and Kandamby's 13 runs off 26 balls.

Nel said the continued failure of these two players had a staggering effect on the team's batting. "It is something we have to sit down and have a serious talk about."

The loss which was Sri Lanka 'A's third in as many matches left them at the bottom of the standings with three points, two less than England 'A' who have five points and two games in hand.

With three straight wins Pakistan 'A' are through to the final with 16 points. They have one match against England 'A' on Sunday and Sri Lanka's chance of making it to the final will depend largely on the result of this game provided they beat England 'A' on Saturday.

"We are in an awkward situation. We have to beat Englanda 'A' and then depend on Pakistan 'A' beating England 'A'," said Nel.

"That is certainly not the way to get into the final. But it is a small window of opportunity to look forward to. We will have to see whether we can make something out of it and try and claw our way into the final, if we can," he said.

Nel praised the performance of the Pakistanis and said: "They are playing some superb cricket. They are a very good team. Their strength is the discipline in their batting. They've proved with every game they played that they are a very disciplined side. That's what we want from our side."

"I think those guys are desperate to represent Pakistan 'A'. They show it when they go to the crease; they put it on the scoreboard. That's what this game's all about," he said.

Nel defended Sri Lanka 'A's decision to play four seamers at the expense of a single frontline spinner by saying: "We thought our seamers would be able to bowl better on this wicket and be able to control the field, this being a smaller ground. The quicks who bowled at the death proved very costly. The part-time spinners bowled reasonably well for us." Sri Lanka A's four seamers conceded 219 runs off 40 overs.

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STANDINGS

[After yesterday's match between Sri Lanka 'A' and Pakistan 'A' at Moors SC grounds]

P W L BP Pts NRR

Pakistan 'A' 3 3 0 1 16 1.32

England 'A' 2 1 1 0 5 -1.13

Sri Lanka 'A' 3 0 3 3 3 -0.66

PAKISTAN 'A' 
Asher Zaidi c Ranjith b H. Fernando		 64 
Faisal Athar c Mubarak b D. Fernando		 38 
Misbah-ul-Haq c Vandort b D. Fernando		 62 
Riaz Afridi c and b H. Fernando			  0 
Aamir Bashir run out				  8 
Hasan Raza not out				 74 
Faisal Iqbal not out				 28 
Extras (b-1, lb-2, nb-2, w-11)			 16 
Total (5 wkts inns closed, 50 overs, 220 mins)	290 

Fall of wickets: 1-84, 2-144, 3-145, 4-154,  5-231. 

Did not bat: Zulqarnain Haider, Yasir Arafat,
             Shahid  Nazir, Imran Thahir. 

Bowling: Ranjith 10-1-56-0 (1nb),Wijekoon 10-1-52-0  (4w), 
         H. Fernando 10-0-50-2 (5w, 1nb),Jayantha 4-0-18-0, D. 
         Fernando 10-0-61-2  (2w), Mubarak 2-0-13-0, 
         Kandamby 1-0-15-0, Arnold 3-0-22-0.  

SRI LANKA 'A'

W.S. Jayantha lbw b Nazir			 28 
M.G. Vandort b Zaidi				 72 
M.K. Gajanayake b Imran				 16 
J. Mubarak st Zulqarnain b Imran		  0 
R.P. Arnold b Zaidi				 68 
H.A.P.W. Jayawardene b Zaidi			 22 
S.H.T. Kandamby c and b Imran			  0 
M.R.G. Wijekoon  b Imran			  4 
K.H.R.K. Fernando b Imran			  0 
C.R.D. Fernando lbw b Zaidi			  0 
P.N. Ranjith not out				  0 
Extras (lb-6, w-1)				  7 
Total (all out, 42.2 overs, 179 mins)		217 

Fall of wickets: 1-36, 2-78, 3-82, 4-153, 5-200,
                 6-201, 7-211, 8-211, 9-212, 10-217.  

Bowling: Nazir 6-0-36-1, Arafat 7-0-41-0, 
         Afridi  8-1-37-0, Imran 9-0-30-5, 
         Zaidi 9.2-0-42-4 (1w), Misbah  3-0-25-0.