Malinga five-for wins the opening match of the Asia Cup for Sri Lanka. Closing spell of 3-0-9-3, finishing figures of 10-0-34-5, superb.
Boom Boom had given Pakistan the advantage with a fantastic 109 off 76, including 8 fours and 7 sixes. It was apparently an incredible innings, and it took a great catch from Sanga to end it.
We batted alright with contributions from Sanga, Mahela and Angelo. But it looked as though Afridi had done enough to win it, at one point Pak needed 26 off 36 with 3 wickets in hand.
Shoaib Akhtar had a good game 10-1-41-3. I'll grudgingly give him that, although he's still a ****. I had a horrible feeling he was gonna bash the winnings runs off too, but he was out in two balls.
The risky decision to leave Mendis out for the whole tourney to maximise his impact in the world cup, and then playing Murali as a lone spinner today, with Randiv and Herath overlooked did not pay off.
We also dropped Sanath (at last) for this tournament. Shahid really took Murali apart, regularly clearing the ropes off his bowling. Murali had the last laugh getting his man but at quite a price in runs.
With a tense finish, many twists and turns and a good balanced contest of bat and ball this match was a fine advert for the 50 over game that it is sadly fashionable to write off as a format on the brink of extinction.
Boom Boom had given Pakistan the advantage with a fantastic 109 off 76, including 8 fours and 7 sixes. It was apparently an incredible innings, and it took a great catch from Sanga to end it.
We batted alright with contributions from Sanga, Mahela and Angelo. But it looked as though Afridi had done enough to win it, at one point Pak needed 26 off 36 with 3 wickets in hand.
Shoaib Akhtar had a good game 10-1-41-3. I'll grudgingly give him that, although he's still a ****. I had a horrible feeling he was gonna bash the winnings runs off too, but he was out in two balls.
The risky decision to leave Mendis out for the whole tourney to maximise his impact in the world cup, and then playing Murali as a lone spinner today, with Randiv and Herath overlooked did not pay off.
We also dropped Sanath (at last) for this tournament. Shahid really took Murali apart, regularly clearing the ropes off his bowling. Murali had the last laugh getting his man but at quite a price in runs.
With a tense finish, many twists and turns and a good balanced contest of bat and ball this match was a fine advert for the 50 over game that it is sadly fashionable to write off as a format on the brink of extinction.
