NEWS
MATCH REPORTS
DIARY
OTHER SPORTS
SLIDE SHOW
PEOPLE
ARCHIVES

Akram's heroics light up the chase

Pakistan without Saeed Anwar at the top of the order has a distinctly fragile look to it. Afridi's big-hitting could have been a good counterweight -- but the trouble with Afridi is that just when he should balance adrenalin with sound commonsense is precisely when he is at his most thoughtless. And 'thoughtless' describes the hoik he played, as his first scoring shot, off Pramodaya Wickremasinghe, standing as though his feet were anchored in cement, and swinging for glory.

In this instance, that swing brought oblivion.

Wickramasinghe is the ideal foil to Vaas -- nippy, with an arsenal of variations in his bowling armoury, he gives the Lankan bowling attack a decidedly healthier look. And those variations were in evidence as he took out three top order batsmen in his first three overs.

Imran Nazir, trying to fill Anwar's shoes, fell to a predetermined pull at a ball not short enough for the shot, and Ijaz Ahmed was foxed by the slower one into driving too early, managing only to hit on the up straight to cover.

Yousuf Youhanna and Inzamam ul Haq both need big runs behind their names, the former perhaps more than the latter. Both had their opportunity here, and for a while, the steadiness with which they played raised visions of a rejuvenating partnership.

However, both batsmen are noticeably struggling for form, and this was reflected in their dismissals. Inzamam came down the wicket, but without his usual footwork -- which meant he wasn't quite there when he essayed a hit back over the bowler's head. Having said that, it was a remarkable return catch by the bowler, Kalpage -- he was down the track a couple of yards on his follow through, Inzamam had come down some two, three yards for the hit, so that ball was coming at him, at mach speed, over a distance of about 15 yards or less, yet he held it like a gentle lob.

The way Youhanna got out didn't speak well of his temperament. With a good batting track, and with the need obviously being to hang in there and bat through, a wild heave at Kalpage was what Youhanna opted for -- which opens up a problem area as Pakistan needs its middle order batsmen to show staying power, given the mercurial nature of the opening pair.

Wasim Akram then came in, and came within a toucher of turning the match around on its head with some spectacular strokeplay that, among other things, underlined the failure of his top-order batsmen. While Akram was out there, batting looked ridiculously easy. What is most noteworthy about his batting is the complete assurance with which he takes on a deep-set field, backing his timing and awesome power to clear the boundary at long on and midwicket, despite fielders being kept right back for those shots. The four sixes he hit today, all in that general region, were masterpieces and in between, he controlled the strike, kept pace with the asking rate, and almost single-handedly hauled his team through.

His dismissal, trying the hit over midwicket once too often to be well held by Chandana on the line, finished the match off, the tail failing to find the nerve to pull through to the finish line.

A fine win for Lanka, notable for the way the islanders held on to their nerve even when it looked like Akram was taking the game away from them. That ability, to hang tough in the face of adverse situations, was a facet of their play in the 1996 campaign, and that was, after a long while, back in evidence here.

What the game has done is throw the tournament wide open. Pakistan have four points, while India and Sri Lanka have two apiece. There is still the mathematical possibility of a three way tie. But Akram made an interesting point in the post match media briefing when he said he was glad the team score had got above thee 240 mark. "That means our run rate is still good, so even if there is a tie, we should end up in the finals," he pointed out.

The words of a captain who has an eye to all angles, those. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka edged ahead of India on run rate, with Lanka registering 0.59, to India's 0.63.

This means that it is India that has all the uphill work ahead of it, if it wants to get into the final of this tournament.

Scoreboard