Sri Lanka Cricket History (Part 2)
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14 Thursday 20th October, 2011 innings, was to remain the highlight of the batsman’s Abbas. brief career. On the final day, Sri Lanka at 111 for 5 sens- In the three ODIs, the first between the two countries ing a historic win were just 65 runs away from its target since June 1975, the Sri Lankan top order – Bandula before its dreams were shattered. By virtue of its great Warnapura, Roy Dias and Duleep Mendis - were quick to escape, Pakistan lifted the newly inaugurated President display their aggressive intent and provided the crowd Bhutto Challenge Cup. Sri Lanka had taken a big posi- with plenty of entertainment. In doing so they registered tive step in pursuit of their goal for international recog- a win against a full-strength Pakistan side in the 2nd ODI nition and full membership of ICC. at Lahore. The English summer of 1975 was blessed with great With vast majority of players relying exclusively on weather which went a long way in the successful staging club cricket for their development, it was the limited- of the inaugural Prudential World Cup – a sixty-over per overs format that appealed more to the Sri Lankans. innings tournament. By the time Pakistan and Sri In the 1983 Prudential World Cup, the two teams met Lanka lined up for a group stage game at Nottingham, twice in the group stages. In both the fixtures, at both the teams had been eliminated from the tourna- Swansea and Leeds, Sri Lanka had its chances, to upset ment, having gone down to the eventual finalists, the odds whilst chasing challenging totals, but did not Australia and West Indies. Pakistan’s total of 330 for six, quite finish it. after having been put in, proved more than imposing as Pakistan captain, Imran Khan, playing purely as a Sri Lanka was dismissed for 138. Pakistan’s top three, batsman, was a relieved man after an 11-run win at Sadiq Mohammad (74) stand-in skipper Majid Khan (84) Leeds, which kept their chances of a semi-final berth and Zaheer Abbas (97), made the most of perfect batting alive. In April 1984, Sri Lanka, with a strong all-round conditions. performance, beat Pakistan by five wickets, in the inau- In January 1976 with Intikhab Alam reinstated as gural Asia Cup, which in fact was the first-ever ODI captain, Pakistan undertook a tour of Sri Lanka that on staged in Sharjah. the whole proved a huge disappointment. The two match The bitterness that stemmed from what can be series that came under the banner of unofficial ‘Test’ termed as Test dominated by poor umpiring, was played was shared by the two teams with a win apiece. between the two countries in the 1985-86 season. Both the fixtures were staged at CCC in Colombo. In Just prior to the two teams facing each other, Sri the first encounter, Pakistan made a poor start to be at Lanka, had only recently beaten India for its first ever 82 for 7 at one stage on the opening day. In the second Test victory. Its high hopes were dashed for at home, innings a dramatic collapse saw them slip from 146 for 2 Pakistan, led by Javed Miandad, was certainly a very to 202 all out. strong side. The star of the series, without a shadow of a With match figures of 8 for 110, leg-spinner doubt was the diminutive Aravinda de Silva, who made a D.S.DeSilva, was the wrecker in chief of the Pakistan name for himself with two sparkling hundreds against Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Abdul Qadir. The three Pakistan – Sri Lanka cricket history (Part 2) batting line-up. His efforts would have gone to a waste Test series opened with a high-scoring but meaningless had Lalith Kaluperuma not withstood great pressure in contest on a docile track at Faisalabad. Sri Lanka scored a low-scoring game. His outstanding contribution with 479 only to see its bowlers helpless against the bats of the bat earned him scores of 96 and 50 not out, that saw Qasim Omar (206) and Javed Miandad (203not out) in Sri Lanka, home by four wickets, whilst chasing 188. Pakistan’s massive 555 for 3. Pakistan leveled the series by winning the second ‘Test’ It was followed by Pakistan’s dominance with decisive by a similar margin that was based on Shafiq Ahmed wins on much livelier surfaces at Sialkot and Karachi. (122) in the first innings and Zaheer Abbas (81not out) on Tall medium-fast bowler, Ravi Ratnayeke, picked up 8 for the way to reaching a fourth-innings total of 196. 83 in Pakistan’s first innings total of 259, which would The Sri Lankan team then went on to win both the remain Sri Lanka’s best bowling effort for almost 13 limited-overs matches by a margin of 22 runs and 2 years. wickets respectively, all the more praiseworthy with Asif His grand feat with the ball was overshadowed by Masood, Sarfraz Nawaz and Imran Khan, leading the Imran Khan’s nine wickets in the match. More fireworks Pakistan new-ball attack. were expected from the tourists in the ODIs which did In the first match at CCC Mudassar Nazar (88not out) not quite materialize. Amidst Zaheer Abbas’ final appear- ance, Pakistan recorded four straight ODI wins, includ- Sidath Wettimuny’s 157 at carried his bat in vain as Pakistan was dismissed for 155. BY MOHAMMED SALIM PARVEZA In the second game, Pakistan batting line-up failed miser- ing a narrow 15-run victory in the 2nd match at Faisalabad in 1982 was the (Continued from yesterday) ably for the entire team was in the pavilion for 114. On Gujranwala. first Test hundred by a Sri their way back from a long tour of New Zealand and In February 1986, Pakistan now with Imran Khan at Lankan. En route to its tour of Australia and New Zealand, the Australia in April 1979, Pakistan stopped over in the helm, arrived in Sri Lanka, to face a hostile media Pakistan team, led by Intikhab Alam, stopped in Colombo to play in a one-off limited-over match. The and crowd that wanted to settle a score in the wake of Colombo for a three-day fixture in November 1972. It was result of the match was never in doubt for tourists umpiring controversies in the previous acrimonious the first tour by a senior Pakistan squad to the island restricted its host to 109 for 8, to win by 55 runs. series between the two teams. since April 1949. It was easy to paint Javed Miandad and Arjuna It is to be said that both BCCP (Board of Control for New Test Nation Ranatunga, as the two villains, which led to some ugly Chairman and Cricket in Pakistan) and BCCI (Board of Control for In February 1982, Sri Lanka arrived in Pakistan on its exchanges of words involving players and umpires. At Cricket in India) could have done a bit with more tours first overseas tour, after being granted the full member- times one felt it was impossible to have a decent game of Vice Chairman that would have helped to raise the standard of cricket in ship of ICC in July 1981. Prior to the three-Test series a cricket between two Asian teams without the presence of Ceylon. number of senior players refused to play under Javed neutral umpires and referees. The entire cricketing election The home side had a new official name of Sri Lanka, Miandad, thus leaving Pakistan to take on the tourists world perhaps need reminding of the vital role played by replacing Ceylon (that had stood for twenty-four years with talented Salim Malik, one of the four debutants, at Pakistan’s initiative in working on all those fronts that deferred 1948-72). The loss of more than three hours play due to National Stadium in Karachi. has given way to a much more healthier, intense but rain on the second day perhaps denied Pakistan a victory In that particular match, Haroon Rashid (153), cele- relaxed rivalry among the players of all four sub-conti- nental nations, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and The International Rugby in a three-day ‘Test’ at the Colombo Oval. A highly brating his return to the Test arena, led the recovery that Bangladesh. Board Council has today decid- accomplished unbeaten 64 by a diminutive 20-year old saw Pakistan to recover from 126 for 6 to 396 all out in the The two teams finished level at 1-1 in the three Test ed to defer the election of the Duleep Mendis, played a part in drawing the game. first innings. Given the inexperience in their ranks, Sri The Pakistan captaincy had changed hands from series. Pakistan took the first Test at Kandy by an Chairman and Vice-Chairman Lanka, fought well in the first two Test matches at Majid Khan back to Intikhab Alam for the two unofficial Karachi and Faisalabad. At Faisalabad in particular if innings and 20 runs only to lose the following Test at positions. The adjourned ‘Test’ against Sri Lanka in 1973-74. The fight and grit dis- leg-spinner D.S.De Silva with match figures of 9 for 162 CCC by eight wickets. Council meeting will take place played by the tourists, against an almost full-strength to his credit, had threatened to wrap up the game only to Although the standard of umpiring, as was the case in December 2011. Pakistan team in its own backyard, impressed the BCCP be denied by the resilience of debutante wicket-keeper, in the previous series in Pakistan, was certainly well An election must be held President Abdul Hafeez Kardar, to such a degree that he Ashraf Ali, who held his nerves in compiling 58 and 29 below the required level.