Lankan pace attack rip apart Pakistan to win series decider.

Tillakaratne Dilshan has emerged as Sri Lanka’s new star after Pakistan was mauled by Sri Lanka for a might victory margin of 234 runs. The all-rounder and top class fielder was given a chance to prove his worth as an opener and Dilshan as proved to be a run-away success, scoring 255 runs in three matches in the Bank Alfalah Cup.

On a cloudy afternoon resembling the 1996 World Cup final at the same venue, Lankan skipper Jaywardena opted to bat first. Dilshan and veteran Jayasurya gave their team a perfect start until the later departed in the 16^th over scoring 45 runs in his trademark fashion.

Following Jayasurya’s departure, Sangakkara and Dilshan set about milking the Pakistani spinners. Shoaib Malik did little to stop the flow of runs and in-fact helped Lanka further by relegating his fielders in obscure positions which also allowed timely boundaries. Malik’s captaincy is going to come under fire and his own form will be under the scanner. The Lanka top-order fired perfectly to set a mammoth target of 310, with Dilshan scoring a career best and unbeaten 137.

When Pakistan came into bat, the crowd at Gaddafi stadium was hopeful of seeing at least a fight from the home boys. But, by the time 10 overs were bowled, the scoreboard cut a sorry figure of six wickets against some 25 odd runs. Nuwan Kulasekara and Thilan Thushara had used their best of limited abilities and exploited the conditions to decimate the top-order, clueless of which delivery is zipping, swinging or cutting in. This was probably exemplified best by Afridi, leaving a Kulasekara delivery, which cut-in sharply to run away with the off-stump. The chants of boom-boom Afridi reduced to stunned silence and deserted stands. Kulasekara and Thushara finished with three wickets each; Murali took two while Mendis and Maharoof shared one each. Murali reached the 500 wicket mark in ODI’s, equaling Wasim Akram, the only bowler to do so. The 234 run defeat was Pakistan’s heaviest defeat ever in terms of runs. Dilshan was the obvious choice for Man of the Series.

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