Sri Lanka v Pakistan, 1st ODI at Dambulla on Jul 11, 2015

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Pakistan target upward push in ODI rankings


ANDREW FIDEL FERNANDO

Match facts
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Start time 1000 local (0430 GMT)


A young Sri Lanka side will be boosted by the presence of Lasith Malinga and Tillakaratne Dilshan © Getty Images

Big picture

Pakistan have recently been whitewashed in Bangladesh. Sri Lanka's last ODI outing was that traumatic Sydney World Cup quarterfinal against South Africa. Both teams have lost key men. Misbah-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi have stepped off the one-day planet. Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene have disappeared over the horizon. These teams are not so much waging high-octane battle in the five-ODI series, as conducting experiments. Is Kusal Perera a viable long-term opener, for example? Or can Sarfraz Ahmed learn to transplant his knack of playing vital Test innings, into his ODI game, and where should he bat? What is each team's top attack? Which batsmen will take the middle order into the future.

The stakes are much higher for Pakistan, though. Presently ninth in the ODI rankings, they must defeat Sri Lanka to displace West Indies, and move up a spot. A proposed ODI triangular in Zimbabwe has added uncertainty to Champions Trophy qualifications, but a healthy margin of victory in this series would put a small buffer between them and the next team.

The hosts are coming off a dispiriting Test series, but have often rebounded in the limited-overs formats. Lest we forget, Tillakaratne Dilshan still plays one-dayers, and Lasith Malinga leads the attack. Along with Angelo Mathews, they are capable of rallying a young team to at least present a challenge to transitional Pakistan.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)

Sri Lanka: LWLWW

Pakistan: WWLLL

In the spotlight

With Rangana Herath omitted from the squad, Mathews said Sachithra Senanayake was Sri Lanka's premier limited-overs spinner. Senanayake appeared to have returned successfully following the remodeling of his action, in the series against England at home last year. His returns in Australia and New Zealand, however, were less encouraging. With Nuwan Kulasekara's experience also overlooked for this squad, pressure mounts on Senanayake to prove he remains a high-quality one-day bowler.

Who else but Yasir Shah? They tried to attack him in the Tests, and Yasir took wickets. They tried to block him in the Tests, and Yasir still took wickets. They tried a mix of both, Yasir's wickets still came. In the end, Sri Lanka only succeeded by tiring him out, at Pallekele. They will not be able to do that in an ODI. Even the batsmen who made big scores in the Test series didn't have him worked out. He is the hosts' top threat.

Team news

With Tillakaratne Dilshan back at the top, Upul Tharanga and Lahiru Thirimanne are likely to slot in at No. 3 and 4.

Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Kusal Perera, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Upul Tharanga, 4 Lahiru Thirimanne, 5 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 6 Angelo Mathews (capt.), 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Seekkuge Prasanna, 9 Sachithra Senanayake, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Suranga Lakmal

Asad Shafiq suffered a groin strain in the third Test, but has now recovered. He will likely face off with Babar Azam for his middle-order spot however.

Pakistan (likely): 1 Ahmed Shehzad, 2 Azhar Ali (capt.), 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Mukhtar Ahmed, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Babar Azam/Asad Shafiq, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Yasir Shah, 9 Anwar Ali, 10 Mohammad Irfan, 11 Rahat Ali

Pitch and conditions

With a little bit of rain around all across the island, there is likely to be a little seam movement at Dambulla. This doesn't mean the spinners are out of it either. The weather is expected to be fine.

Stats and trivia

• Sarfraz Ahmed's average as opener is 43. This is roughly twice his average in the middle order.
• Pakistan were blasted out for 102 the last time they played in Dambulla, in August last year.
• Angelo Mathews averages 53.69 from 42 innings at no. 5. This is again much higher than his average in other position.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/sri-lanka-v-pakistan-2015/content/story/896593.html

 

Interesting choice at the toss, we have chosen to BOWL first.

 

Rubbish selection.

 

On what basis is Shehzad selected... should've opened with Sarfraz & Azhar, and Mukhtar at Sarfraz's position, that way we'd know if we have any hard-hitting-last-overs-finisher or not.

 

Anyone kind enough to share a good quality link?

Many thanks in advance.

 

http://cdn2.crichd.in/channel.php?id=willow&vw=700&vh=420&domain=www.crichd.in

 

Many thanks.

Been a while since I've been able to watch Pakistan. Hopefully my love for Pakistan cricket can be rekindled with some good performances.

 

Irfan bowling 140+k

 

Another link: http://24livestreamtv.blogspot.ca/2015/06/star-sports-4-live.html

Still searching for better ones.

Edit:

http://watchcric.net/channel/live-cricket_2
http://www.crichd.tv/watch/222/sri-lanka-vs-pakistan-odi-live-streaming/

 

what is with Sri lankan people and their band

 

use VPN and select any Asian country. Then go to watch from here

 

UNLUCKY IRFAAN

 

Wicket off a no ball for irfan. A free hit to add to insult.

 

Damn it, how costly will that no ball be?

 

lol, Dilshan out twice but doesn't count...

 

How is Rahat anywhere near an international cricket team is beyond me. Pakistan cricket is failing if he is the best we have.

 

Sri Lanka content with seeing off the new ball while taking singles (good ploy). Interesting to see how Yasir does in the middle overs.

 

Anwar Ali getting hit around!

 

Saved by the edge.

 

Lankans are setting in quite nicely. Need to get spin going from one end.

 

Four

 

You can see the energy drained from Pakistanis. This is where a good captain will get his troops going.

 

Hafeez gets the breakthrough!

44/1

 

Hafeeeez!

 

Dilshan still there worries me. He can start the fireworks any time.

 

Need the wicket of Dilshan

 

Out Tharanga. 2nd wicket for Hafeez

 

Irfan needs to make his bouncer better, he doesn't need to pitch it too short to make it to batsman's face.

 

Haven't seen Malik with the ball yet...

 

Hafeez on fire, 3 of 4 wickets taken by him.

120/4 in 26.3 overs

 

has he been cleared ?

 

No, but he can bowl till the results come. Innocent till proven guilty and all that.

 

These two can take SL to 300 like this.

 

uh-oh

 

Yasir's first OD wicket

 

Career best figures for Hafeez. 4/41

SL 204/6 in 43 overs.

 

So basically there are two keepers behind the stump

Kami will be cussing Misbah for not providing him that

 

He had 4 before this....First wicket was back in 2011.

 

2011

when ?!