Matthews' brilliance steal series for Sri Lanka

Another sorry tale for Pakistan that lead to an exciting 2 wicket win for Srilanka. The match was built around  a brilliant innings from Angelo Mathews who stole the show with a match winning fifty. With 15 needed of the last over, chances were tilted towards Pakistan but Mohammad Sami bowled a disastrous 2nd ball of the over (the first ball being a wide and 2 being taken of the legitimate first ball) that was taken for six straight over the head of the bowler.

Pakistan selection came under scrutiny when they left out ace off-spinner Saeed Ajmal out for Mohammad Sami and that came out to be the difference in the end. While poor ground-fielding produced the reprieves towards the end of the innings, it combined with poor catching in the first half. Misfields and a ball kicked for four in the outfield preceded a straightforward catch dropped off Kumar Sangakkara on 25 by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed. The run that lapse conceded brought about a half-century stand between Sangakkara and Dinesh Chandimal. It had helped Sri Lanka recover from two early blows inflicted by Tanvir, who castled Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga. Even though Sarfraz reacted sharply to run out Sangakkara for 36, the Pakistani heads continued to sink in their hands as the fielding woes didn't stop.

Pakistan replaced an experienced Younis Khan with Imran Farhat, who opened the batting and delivered to make a fluent fifty, with shots relying heavily on wristwork and backed up with flourish. He built a solid partnership with Ali, who then formed a steady association with Asad Shafiq. Each of the three batsmen, however, gave their wickets away - Farhat and Ali were caught off avoidable shots while a moment's hesitation for a single accounted for Shafiq.

Umar Akmal gave the innings impetus with his attacking, unbeaten 55. He thrice flicked Lasith Malinga past short fine, struck Perera for two sixes and promised to take Pakistan past 260. At 220 for 6 in the 44th over, that was well within reach. Akmal was picking Malinga's slower ones, but that changed soon as the seamer got his yorkers on the mark. Akmal made room, moved across, swung hard, tried to scoop, but Malinga had the better of the contest at the death. His thrift ensured Akmal managed only nine runs off his last 19 balls, and Pakistan just 27 off the last six overs. It would hurt Pakistan in the end, but not as much as their fielding. 

There had been several mini-conferences between overs, parallel discussions between fielders, all summing up Pakistan's struggle to close the lid despite climbing to positions of advantage. The run-outs of Thisara Perera and Lahiru Thirimanne deprived Mathews of two capable partners, but Pakistan were in for a surprise soon when Mathews ceded floor to Mendis, who kickstarted the counterattack.

Just when the required-rate had gone past nine an over in the 44th, Mendis smashed Sohail Tanvir's slower ball for six over long-on before driving and glancing Umar Gul for two boundaries. Tanvir eventually got rid of Mendis, but Kulasekara hung on, even collecting a fortuitous boundary past third man off Sami. The pair of Kulasekara and Mathews knocked off six singles in the penultimate over, leading up to Mathews' final surge in the 50th that included another missed run-out.  

STATS FROM THE MATCH

• Sri Lanka's two-wicket win is their narrowest margin of victory against Pakistan (in terms of wickets). It also equals their closest win in terms of the number of balls remaining (two balls).
• The target of 248 is also the highest chased by Sri Lanka in ODIs against Pakistan at the Premadasa stadium. Overall, it is the third-highest target chased by any team at the venue.
• The series win is Sri Lanka's third in their last four series (bilateral series) against Pakistan. Their previous two series wins were 2-1 in Pakistan (2009) and 3-2 in Sri Lanka (2009).
• Angelo Mathews' 80 is the highest score in a chase by a Sri Lankan batsman against Pakistan at the Premadasa stadium and the third-highest for them against Pakistan at the venue.
• Mathews' strike rate of 105.26 is the highest for a Sri Lankan for a fifty-plus score against Pakistan at the venue.
• Umar Akmal's half-century is his 15th in ODIs and fifth against Sri Lanka. He averages 51.27 against Sri Lanka while his overall average is 38.48.
• This is the fifth occasion that Mahela Jayawardene has been dismissed for a first-ball duck.
• Mohammad Sami conceded 75 runs off 9.4 overs. This is fourth-highest on the list of most runs conceded by a Pakistan bowler against Sri Lanka and the highest by a Pakistan bowler in Sri Lanka.

Bell's return gives England thumping win

Ian Bell's return to the England ODI side saw them to a thumping win over West Indies in the 1st ODI at West End, Southampton. In some neat symmetry this was the same ground (albeit with a different name) where Bell made his only other ODI hundred - against India in 2007 - and this time he reached three figures from a lively 95 balls to suggest that the hole left by Kevin Pietersen's retirement will not be as vast as some had envisaged.

Ian Bell after reaching his Century of 95 balls

The opening partnership did not flourish with Alastair Cook was caught behind third ball against Ravi Rampaul but Bell ensured that the team's recent run of ODI hundreds continued; this was the fifth match in a row that one of the openers had reached three figures after the back-to-back efforts of Cook and Pietersen against Pakistan in the UAE.The foundation of England's total was laid by a second-wicket stand of 108 between Bell and Jonathan Trott, Warwickshire team-mates who used their understanding well to run hard between the wickets against some lacklustre West Indian fielding. The boundaries had been pushed right to edge of the playing area in anticipation of West Indies' power-packed batting order.

England's final total of 288 for 6 was less than they may have hoped for after 30 overs when they were 163 for 3, but was still the second highest score batting first at this venue - and England's highest - after Craig Kieswetter produced some late boundaries along with Stuart Broad in a useful 43-run stand off 34 balls.

After the early loss of Lendl Simmons, Smith's innings included three boundaries in four deliveries against Steven Finn, the second of which was a pick-up over deep square-leg, and went past fifty off 38 balls. Longevity, though, has never been Smith's strength and and aiming another shot through the legs side got an edge off Bresnan. In one sense he had done his job, but it was also a missed opportunity to build a long innings. Bresnan struck again in his next over when he won an lbw against Denesh Ramdin - batting at No. 3 after Darren Bravo picked up a groin injury in the field - after the wicketkeeper had lurched to 22.

West Indies continued to play their shots with both Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo collecting early boundaries but as rain started to fall Finn struck in the first over of his second spell by squaring up Bravo with a full delivery. In that one moment West Indies went from being ahead of the D/L par score to being behind it. The margin became even greater when Eoin Morgan plucked out Kieran Pollard's fierce cut at backward point. When Samuels clipped James Anderson to midwicket shortly after an hour's delay for rain, West Indies' last hope had gone. In total they lost 9 for 77 in 18 overs.

STATS FROM THE MATCH

• England's 114-run win is their largest ever against West Indies in ODIs. Their previous highest is the 89-run win in Adelaide in 1987.
• The win is also England's second-largest in Southampton after the 121-run win over Pakistan in 2010. Since 2005, West Indies have lost by a margin of 100-plus runs ten times.
• England's total of 288 is their fifth-highest against West Indies and their second-highest against West Indies at home. The total is the joint-highest for England in ODIs in Southampton.
• Ian Bell equalled his highest score in ODIs (126) with his century. He has now scored 3360 runs at an average of 35.00.
• Bell's 126 is the fourth-highest score by an England player against West Indies and second-highest against West Indies in home ODIs. Marcus Trescothick is on top for his 130 in 2004.
• The 108-run stand between Bell and Jonathan Trott is the second century stand for the second wicket for England against West Indies. The highest is 144 between Graeme Hick and Michael Atherton in 1995.
• Tim Bresnan's 4 for 34 is the fourth-best bowling performance for England against West Indies. The best is Andrew Flintoff's 5 for 19 in 2009. It is also Bresnan's third haul of four or more wickets.

Sensational Pakistan Collapse gives Lanka lead

The 4th match of the SL-Pak match saw a sensational 91st over where brilliance of a hard working cricketer and some abysmal batting by Pakistan lead a turnaround that was not anticipated after Pakistan was very much in control for the first 90 overs of the match. Thisara Parera bowled a sensational 41st over of the Pakistan innings to claim 4 wickets, including a hat-trick and run out, to put the match in the bag for Sri Lanka.

The highlights of the match, other than Thisara Parera's hat trick, includes two partnerships from wither sides. Fist one was the Sangakkara-Mahela 110 run partnership that allowed Sri Lanka a competitive total for the match and other partnership was between a lesser Known Azhar Ali and Misbah-Ul- Haq 112 run stand that kept Pakistan as favorites for the first 40 overs. As mentioned by Misbah in the post match presentation "We need a six an over, and everything was under control. I don't know what happened after that."
Coming back to Pakistan batting, they have shown in the last year that its difficult for them to chase anything over 220. Their youngsters are not responding to the pressure situations. Even the experienced players are not rising up to the occasion. Fielding is a problem for them. The good thing for them is that they have a world class bowling attack that can continue for next 5 years. But there is lot to work upon in other aspects of the game.
With a 2-1 lead in the series and one match to go, SL would be looking for a win to seal the series while Pakistan would be looking for a equaliser. The Sri Lankan fans will be happy to see their ace batsmen Sangakkara and Mahela regaining form.

STATS FROM THE MATCH

• Thisara Perera's hat-trick was the seventh by a Sri Lankan bowler and the first by a Sri Lankan against Pakistan. Lasith Malinga and Chaminda Vaas have taken three and two hat-tricks respectively.
• In the Pakistan innings, six batsmen were dismissed for a duck. This is the third such occurrence (six ducks in an innings) for Pakistan after Birmingham (1987) and Cape Town (1993).
• From a position of 169 for 3, Pakistan lost their next six wickets for ten runs. The partnership aggregate between the fourth and ninth wickets (13 runs) is the lowest ever for Pakistan and the third-lowest overall.
• Sri Lanka now have an even win-loss record (6-6) at the Premadasa stadium against Pakistan. Against India, they have won 15 matches, the most against a particular opposition at the venue.
• The 110-run stand between Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene for the fourth wicket is their 13th century partnership in ODIs. Among Sri Lankan pairs, only the Sanath Jayasuriya-Marvan Atapattu one is ahead (14 century stands).
• Sangakkara was dismissed in the nineties for the third time in ODIs. It is also the ninth time a Sri Lankan batsman has fallen in the nineties against Pakistan.
• Azhar Ali became only the ninth player overall and the second Pakistan batsman after Saeed Anwar to carry his bat through a completed innings.
• The 113-run stand between Azhar and Misbah-ul-Haq is joint-fifth on the list of top third-wicket stands for Pakistan against Sri Lanka.