Monday 22nd June, 2009 Forgotten heroes bring victory to Pakistan Sri Lanka falter at final hurdle

who added 24. Afridi fittingly scored the winning Sri Lanka still had an outside chance run off to end miseries of when they dried up the runs and Pakistan 2007-South Africa, where they fell ago- required 27 runs in 18 balls. But the 18th nizingly short to India. over bowled by Isuru Udana went for plen- At the end of the game, Younis Khan ty with the Pakistanis scoring 19 off the announced his retirement from T-20 over swinging the momentum completely . their way.

Scoreboard Sri Lanka innings S. Afridi 54 T. M. Dilshan c Hasan b Aamer 0 S. Malik not out 24 S. Jayasuriya b Razzaq 17 Extras: (lb 2, w 2, nb 1) 5 J. Mubarak c Hasan b Razzaq 0 Total: (2 ; 18.4 overs) 139 K. Sangakkara not out 64 Did not bat: A. Razzaq, Y. Khan, Misbah-ul- M. J’dene c Misbah-ul-Haq b Razzaq 1 Haq, F. Alam, U. Gul, S. Ajmal, M. Aamer. C. Silva c Ajmal b Gul 14 Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-63. I. Udana b Afridi 1 Bowling: Mathews 2- 0-17-0, Udana 4-0-4-0 A. Mathews not out 35 (1nb, 2w), Malinga 3.4-0-14-0, Muralitharan Extras: (lb 3, w 2, nb 1) 6 3-0-20-1 , Mendis 4-0-34-0, Jayasuriya 2-0- Total: (6 wickets; 20 overs) 138 8-1. Did not bat: L. Malinga, M. Muralitharan, A. Toss : Sri Lanka, who chose to bat Mendis. Series: Pakistan won the 2009 ICC World Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-2, 3-26, 4-32, 5-67, 6-70. Bowling: Aamer 4-1-30-1, Razzaq 3-0-20- Player of the match: Shahid Afridi (Pak) 3, Afridi 4-0-20-1, Ajmal 4-0-28-0, Malik 1- Player of the series: T. M. Dilshan (SL) 0-8-0, Gul 4-0-29-1 (1nb, 2w) Umpires: D. Harper (Aus) and SJA Taufel (Aus) Pakistan innings TV umpire: S. Davis (Aus) K. Akmal st Sangakkara b Jayasuriya 37 Match referee: C. Broad S. Hasan c Jayasuriya b Muralitharan 19 Reserve umpire: B. Bowden (NZ)

Pakistan’s players celebrate with the trophy after defeating Sri Lanka during their Twenty20 World Cup Final cricket match at Lord’s crick- et ground in London, Sunday June 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham) Rex Clementine reporting from Royal drub Kingswood in London after Dilshan’s dismissal trying to whip Haq. Razzaq through the midwicket, Mubarak Kumar Sangakkara, meanwhile, ri Lanka’s sensational run in the T- was undone by the bounce and took a showed plenty of character as he battled second half rally 20 World Cup came to a disappoint- leading edge to be caught at mid-off. hard with no support at all from the top by Ravi Nagahawatte through flanker Chula Abeysinghe. But Royal were equally impressive and lev- Sing end when they lost the grand There must have been some harsh order. Chamara Silva and Isuru Udana eled scores when centre Duminda final here at the Lord’s Cricket Ground to words spoken in the dug-out as Mubarak departed without doing any damage and Royal College underscored their supe- riority as the best team this season when Attygalle found his way over the try line. Pakistan by eight wickets in a terrible fell sheepishly, but the question now will Sangakkara batted as if no situation was they demolished Kingswood College Royal stretched their lead by three anticlimax where the favourites lost the be whether Sri Lanka are prepared to take tough enough for him. Kandy by 43 points to 17 in what turned to points when they were rewarded with a plot from ball one. It was such a one-sided a decision. Despite averaging a disap- With four wickets down by the sixth be the deciding fixture of the inter-school penalty a few minutes later. game that Sri Lanka were always playing pointing 31:87 in first class cricket and an over, he realized the need to rotate the A Division rugby tournament, worked off The host team then silenced catch up after losing early wickets and average of less than 30 in List ‘A’ matches, strike and preserved the big shots at Royal College Sports Complex grounds Kingswood when scrum half Akeel Satuk saw an opening during a ruck and sliced their six match unbeaten run in the tour- the selectors have been too kind to towards the end of the game. Yet he was at Reid Avenue yesterday. through to score. Faleel added the conver- nament finally came to an end by a team Mubarak having persevered with him for quick to punish the loose ball and reached Royal were stretched to the wire in the first half but bounced back with a stupen- sion to make the score 17-7 in favour of whom they had beaten in the Super Eight too long in international cricket, where his half-century in 44 balls and found an dous display after the turnaround which Royal. stage. the more he plays, the more he fails. ideal partner in young . undid the fast running Kingswoodians. Kingswood sprung into action a few It was the forgotten heroes of Pakistan After dispatching a couple of bound- The was full of praise for Royal continue to lead the points table minutes later and earned a try when cen- cricket, Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq, aries and a six, Jayasuriya dragged Mathews leading up to the game and the after yesterday’s win but have two more tre D.Wijesinghe scored under the posts who put Pakistan through. Razzaq, who Razzaq to be dismissed for 17 and two former under-19 captain didn’t let his matches to complete their line up of fix- just before ‘lemons’. Royal led 17-14 at half time. was banned from international cricket for overs later the dismissal of Jayawardene skipper down as he contributed with a tures this season. Royal’s three quarters exploded into his involvement in the Indian Cricket changed the game completely in favour of valuable 35 in 24 balls with three bound- The winners rode on the skills of their three quarters who produced a memo- action in the second half and earned four League tourna- aries and a six, having come to the crease rable display of run and pass rugby.Royal more tries through Hasitha ment was making in the 14th over. collected their points through six tries, Bandaranayaka, Nabil Faizer, Chamara his comeback to The pair added an unbroken 68 runs five conversions and a penalty while Dabare and skipper Naren Dhason. The the national team in 44 balls as Sri Lanka accumulated 59 Kingswood earned two tries, two conver- Royal four-try-blitz in the second half in this series and runs in the last five overs. But yet a total sions and a penalty. sent any chance Kingswood had of mak- ing a comeback into oblivion. was in fact a late of 138 was going to prove insufficient. The game was played at a furious pace. The surprising element in the Kingswood skipper Weeraratne slot- addition filling in The game also exposed Sri Lanka’s Kingswoodians was that their forwards ted in a penalty in the second half. for the injured limitations with the bat that had revolved matched the pace set by their three quar- An interesting feature in yesterday’s Yasir Arafat. It around just four players. When three of ters. They gave the Royal eight a torrid match was Kingswood’s M.M. was he who put those top order batsmen failed, the other time by going on the offensive and work- Weerasekere being handed a red card. He Pakistan on top two failed to show any resistance as Sri ing tirelessly in the loose and set pieces. was initially handed a yellow card. His claiming three Lanka having played superbly suc- Kingwood had control of the game in second offence brought him the red card. Kingswood played with 14 players during early wickets cumbed under pressure in the final game. the first 20 minutes and earned a try the final 20 minutes of play. including those of The only consolation for them was Sanath Jayasuriya and Mahela Pakistan. Dilshan winning the Player of the Jayawardene. has been often Tournament awarded having amassed Afridi, meanwhile had been very quiet compared to Aravinda de Silva, with 317 runs in the tournament in seven with the bat in recent times and had some even feeling the former captain a games. played as more of a bowler, but Younis better player than the retired star. But the When the run chase started, Kamran Khan’s decision to send him up the order fact of the matter is while de Silva thrived Akmal put Pakistan on top with 37 runs worked to perfection as he starred with an on the big occasion under pressure, in 28 balls and when he was off unbeaten 54 in 40 balls with two bound- Jayawardene is yet to stamp his authority the first ball bowled by Jayasuriya, in aries and two sixes and was fittingly showing his big match temperament. walked Shaid Afridi and played probably named Man of the Match as Pakistan won The memories of de Silva walking the knock of his life. with eight wickets and eight balls to into bat after the famous opening pair of Afridi had made his name for his big spare. Jayasuriya-Kaluwitharana had fallen hits from the start, but on this occasion Kumar Sangakkara elected to bat first cheaply in both the semi-final and the he fulfilled his duty to perfection having after winning a crucial toss and final of the historic World Cup win 13 realized there was no need to go for big Tillekeratne Dilshan, who had been a rev- years ago are still fresh in the memories hits right from the word go in chasing elation in the tournament fell for a duck of Sri Lankan cricket supporters. In this such a small target. when he mistimed his famous scoop shot tournament, Jayawardene too walked in He picked up the singles that were and was snapped up by Shahziad Hasan at under similar circumstances, but yet available and ran two whenever there short fine-leg. managed a couple in the semi-final and was an opportunity and as the loose balls There was a change of strategy from just one run here. came was quick to dispatch them. He hit the Sri Lankans as was It was a nothing shot by a player of his a career best unbeaten 54 in 40 balls with sent up the order and the clear message class as Jayawardene attempted a lazy cut the help of two boundaries and two sixes A Kingswood College player is tackled in their match against Royal College which was would have been to play the anchor role shot with a slip in place and ended up hit- and added an unbroken 76 runs in 59 balls played at Reid Avenue yesterday. Royal beat Kingswood 43-17. (Pix by Nishan S. Priyantha) and stay till the end. But just four balls ting straight to the hands of Misbah-ul- for the third with Shoaib Malik, (More sport on page 12, 14, 15)

Published by Upali Newspapers (Private) Limited, 223, Bloemendhal Road, Colombo 13 and Printed at 195/187, High Level Road, Homagama on Monday 22nd June, 2009