Pak thrash Lanka, move into semis

Given the nature of the two combatants, this was a game that promised a feast of cricketing riches. On the one hand, Pakistan -- that most mercurial of sides. On the other hand, Sri Lanka -- which, after the return of Dav Whatmore to the coach's slot, has refound its hard-nosed professionalism. Both sides packed with exciting batsmen. One side with a clutch of wicket-taking bowlers, the other with a bunch of steady, level-headed pros who, with terrific backing in the field, know how to tie down any batting side.

And yet, at the end of almost 100 overs, what remains is a feeling of being let-down. Almost like waking up on Christmas Day and finding that not only had Santa Claus not slipped down the chimney, but someone went and robbed the sock you hung out for him.

An involved match report would be pointless for a game that was won and lost inside the first 15 overs of play. Sri Lanka, making only the one change of bringing in the spinner, Upul Chandana, for the medium pace of Pramodaya Wickremasinghe, won the toss and quite naturally opted to bat first. Given that this was the same track on which India and Australia played out a stunner yesterday, there would be wear and tear and it could only get slower as the game progressed, so Lanka probably went in with the idea of putting up a good score, then just choking Pakistan out of the match with accurate bowling and tight fielding.

What happened, though, was an anticlimax of sorts. Wasim Akram, whose visage by now probably induces nausea and/or nightmares in the Lankans after his single-handed heroics during the last Pakistan tour of Lanka, strutted his stuff as early as the third over. With Gunawardene facing, the world's premier left arm quick produced a gem of a delivery, pitching middle, squaring the batsman up, and then seaming away just enough to slip past the bat face and clip the off stump.

In the very next over, Azhar Mahmood joined the party with another beauty. This one, to Marvan Atapattu, easily the most technically accomplished of the Lankans, was unplayable. Pitching off on the three quarter length, it drew Atapattu into the defensive shot, kicked up late, seamed away even later, and took the high edge through to Moin and Lanka, at 8/2, had an unhealthy look to it.

What followed, reminded you of the Charge of the Light Brigade. Remember that reckless charge? And remember the famous epitaph written for those 600 foolhardy men who "rode into the jaws of death"?

"It is magnificient, but it isn't war!" was the verdict then, and it remained the verdict here as Jayasuriya launched into a counter-attack, cracking the ball around to all corners. A square cut six started the deluge, and pulls, drives, and fierce cuts followed in profusion.

Brilliant, but risk-laden -- and it was the risk factor that had you shaking your head, given that Lanka could ill afford another wicket going down. Akram took the hammering, then produced one seemingly in the slot for another Jayasuriya slash. Outside off, just shortish, just right -- Jayasuriya was drawn, and as he shaped for the shot, the ball seamed gently away, making the difference between the meat, and the edge, of the bat for Moin to gratefully accept. 63/3.

Sangakarra looked good, playing with a calm confidence that inspired hopes of a revival. A gentle tap to point had Jayawardene, the non-striker, calling for a run that didn't exist. Abdur Razzaq, who had a horrible misfield in the deep earlier, made amends with an electric pick up and throw from point, Moin gathered very well and had the bails off, and Lanka had lost its fourth, to be 81/4 at the 15 over mark.

Still, Sangakarra was around, and you thought back to the day before, you remembered how one plucky youngster had turned it around for India. And you watched in disbelief as Abdur Razzaq angled one across, Sangakarra went for a cut to a ball too close to his body to permit the shot, and dragged it back onto his stumps off the bottom edge. Lanka 100/5.

That was pretty much that. Kaluwitharana was a touch unlucky to be given LBW on an Azhar Mahmood delivery that was bowled from wide of the crease and hit on the front pad in front of middle, the angle of delivery suggesting that the ball might have missed led. This was when Russel Arnold and Kalu were mounting a little recovery, and had taken the score along to 156 in the 36th over. The dismissal, whatever its merits, put paid to all further resistance, and Lanka duly collapsed to 164 all out.

What was noteworthy was the Pakistan performance in the field. Their lead bowlers are all wicket-takers, and they all contribute to chip away at the opposing side's batsmen, which is what makes them so formidable in the field. Most sides have one or two wicket-takers, the role of the other bowlers being defined as keeping things buttoned down while the stars are taking a breather. Not so Pakistan -- each of the bowlers is an aggressor, and Moin Khan appears to have settled nicely enough into the role of skipper to feel confident of constantly attacking with his field placings, encouraging the bowlers to shrug off the odd boundary or three and keep looking for wickets. Add to this the presence of some young legs in the field -- Imran Nazir being a prime example, and quite simply outstanding at point -- and it all makes for a formidable bowling side. Sri Lanka were, quite simply, overwhelmed.

In fact, it would be fair to say that Lanka were much in the position of a boxer who, in the first round, takes an uppercut just under the heart. Punch drunk, the normally ice-cool Lankans put up an embarassing performance in the field. Chaminda Vaas, that most experienced of opening bowlers, started with a horrible first over in which he kept no-balling or compensating by bowling wides; Zoysa promptly went one better by bowling both sides of the wicket, the Pakistan openers, Saeed Anwar and Imran Nazir, gleefully accepted the freebies on offer, and the game was finished right there.

Barring Muralitharan, no Lankan bowler showed the application needed to defend a small total. And again barring Muralitharan, the Lankan fielding was at best decent, but never the kind of in-your-face fielding that puts on the pressure.

Anwar thrived, using the occasion to bat himself into prime form and touch. At the other end, Imran Nazir impressed both with the fluidity of shot-making, and the amount of time he found to play his shots in, off either foot. And Pakistan looked set for a ten-wicket win when, much to Nazir's very obvious disgust, Anwar called him for a non-existent run after a push to midwicket, and got the youngster run out by a couple of yards.

That was in the 20th over, but Pakistan were already 90/1 at that stage. Anwar, apparently sobered by the incident, settled down to stroking the ball around the park for singles and braces, seemingly hell-bent on seeing Pakistan through without any more alarms. Yousuf Youhanna at the other end took his own time to settle down, then eased up a gear with a fluent on driven six off Muralitharan.

Then he looked at the scoreboard, made some calculations, and realised that if he could find the patience to pat even half volleys back down the track, his partner, Anwar, just could go home with another century. So the remainder of the match turned into an exercise in patience -- Youhanna's, and the spectator's, as the strike was carefully farmed out to Anwar, who progressed to 99 with an array of singles and nary false stroke before getting to his mark, and finishing off the game, with a six over long on.

It was an all-round performance so dominant, that barring the very brief flourish by Jayasuriya, there was never a time, either with bat or ball, that Sri Lanka looked to be even remotely in with a chance.

Lanka now takes the flight home, while Pakistan await the outcome of tomorrow's match between Zimbabwe and New Zealand to know who their semifinal opponents will be.

Is it just me, or do you, too, think that at this stage, Pakistan looks a carbon copy of the time that impressed one and all in the World Cup, right up till the final and, as it turned out, fatal, hurdle?

Mail Cricket Editor