Pakistan vs Sri Lanka 4th ODI Highlights, Pak vs SL | 16-06-2012

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After a washout in the third One Day International (ODI), Sri Lanka will take on Pakistan in the fourth of the five-match series on Saturday at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. The series is still level with both teams having won a fixture each.

The weather in Colombo played spoilsport over the last week and Sri Lankan cricket officials have named reserved days for the final two ODIs in case further rain interruptions wash out the fixtures.

The Green Shirts have enjoyed a massive psychological edge over the Islanders since the last 14 months and after a victory in the first ODI at Pallekele, experts were expecting Pakistan to run away with the show.

However, this has not been the case as Mahela Jaywardene’s men bounced back in the second match to show that they wont lose ground without a fight.

Despite Misbah ul Haq’s men having a very good record at the Premadasa, where conditions assist them, they will have to come up with top quality cricket to surpass the Lankan Lions.

The problem with the Islanders is that they rely too heavily on their three senior players, Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan. At least one of them has to fire if Sri Lanka is to have any chance of taking a lead after the fourth match, given how the rest of the batting line-up miserably struggled to cope with the likes of Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal.

Jayawardene expressed last week that his players need to raise their game because the Green Shirts have one of the best bowling attacks in the world, especially in the limited-overs format of the game.

“We haven’t played that well against Pakistan [at the R Premadasa Stadium]. It’s up to us to challenge ourselves. Pakistan are a quality team. The bowling unit, with the variations they have, has the fire power to play in any conditions, that that is why they are successful in these conditions,” the Sri Lanka skipper mentioned.

Pakistan, on the other hand, are favourites to clinch the series and have everything to lose in the last two matches in Colombo. Their skipper, Misbah is also under immense pressure to deliver the goods, if he wants to retain his position.

After the loss in the second ODI, the seasoned middle-order batsman urged his team to take the rest of the series with a ‘do or die’ approach as the team cannot afford to lose the competition against Sri Lanka.

Misbah said, “After Saturday’s loss there is no margin for error and we will need to give our best tomorrow. Fielding is a very important factor when you are playing against top sides. We were a bit ordinary with the way we fielded and bowled.”

The Men in Green are still trying to formulate the right combination in the 50-over format as they draftedAsad Shafiq in the playing-XI for the third match in place of a bowler. However, it remains to be seen which combination Pakistan opts to go with in tomorrow’s fixture.

Incidentally, Mohammad Hafeez, the vice-captain, was injured yesterday during the nets but according to reports he should be fit for Saturday’s game. The all-rounder’s performance however, has been below par with the bat and he must start scoring runs consistently at the top of the order in order to justify PCB’s decision to appoint him as captain of the T20 side.

With only two games to go and the series level at 1-1, the fourth game is absolutely crucial for the two teams and they will come out hard at each other to take an unassailable lead.

Pitch Report: The pitch was recently re-laid and anything above 250 should be a good total. Going by the previous game, scoring runs will not be very easy considering the heavy outfield and the batsmen will need to apply themselves.

Prediction: With the Lankans performing exceedingly well with both bat and ball, it’s hard to look beyond a Sri Lankan victory. The hosts will win the game to go 2-1 up in the series.

Players to Watch

Lasith Malinga:  He can get the better of any batsmen at any part of the innings with those slow bouncers and toe-crushing yorkers apart from his many other variations. Enough said.

 Mohammad Hafeez: He has set very high standards for himself in the recent past and will look to bounce back in this game after a couple of bad games. His batting and bowling can rock the Lankans.