Pakistan vs Sri Lanka 5th ODI Highlights, Pak vs SL | 18-06-2012

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Hosts Sri Lanka will lock horns with the visitors from Pakistan one final time in the 50 over format in the final game of the five-match ODI series on Monday, 18th June at the R Premadasa stadium in Colombo. Having won the 4th ODI, the hosts have an unassailable 2-1 lead and would want to give some of the benchwarmers a game here while the visitors would like to end the series on a high by pulling one back for themselves.

Sri Lanka:

The Lankan batsmen have been fairly consistent after that poor showing in the first game. Their old guns Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene have been amongst the runs and that has been the difference between the two sides. Dilshan has been the only centurion so far and leads the run scoring charts, while Sangakkara fell three runs short of a landmark ton in the previous game. The Lankans will try to give the likes of Lahiru Thirimanne and Angelo Mathews more time at the crease in this game.

The bowlers have been winning the games for the hosts with some excellent performances. Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara have been deadly accurate and have 6 and 5 wickets respectively to show for their series effort. Thisara Perera has claimed bucketloads of wickets in the later stages of matches. He has been the pick of the bowlers picking up four wickets (which included a hat-trick) in the fourth game to add to his career best 6 wickets in the second game. Sajeeva Weerakoon was decent and returned with figures of 1-49 in his first ever ODI spell. One or two among Dilhara Fernando, Sachitra Senanayake and Jeevan Mendis might be given a chance to impress in this game.

Pakistan:

Batting has been a concern for Pakistan on this tour. Except for Azhar Ali, who has been the leading run scorer for either side with 187 runs, and perhaps the skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, 114 runs at a strike rate of 60, the rest of the batsmen have been falling faster than nine pins. Despite playing an extra batsman in the previous game, they fluffed a chase of 244 from a comfortable 166-2. Due to lack of choices, they’ll continue to play the same lineup and hope that at least two of them have a good day in this clash.

The visitors have been hard to score off but they have not been able to pick up wickets as much as they might have wanted to. Mohammad Hafeez has picked up the most wickets (5) with Umar Gul right behind him with 4. Saeed Ajmal and Sohail Tanvir have picked up just three wickets each while Shahid Afridi has just a single wicket to show for his summer in Sri Lanka. Saeed Ajmal has mostly been used in the powerplay overs and has been bowling with a defensive mindset. Aizaz Cheema might finally get a game in this game in place of either Gul or Tanvir just to add some freshness into the attack.

Form Guide

Sri Lanka (W NR W L L)

June 16 2012-vs Pakistan- won by 44 runs

June 13 2012-vs Pakistan- abandoned due to rain

June 09 2012-vs Pakistan- won by 76 runs

June 07 2012-vs Pakistan- lost by 6 wickets

March 20 2012-vs Bangladesh- lost by 5 wickets

Pakistan (L NR L W W)

June 16 2012-vs Sri Lanka- lost by 44 runs

June 13 2012-vs Sri Lanka- abandoned due to rain

June 09 2012-vs Sri Lanka- lost by 76 runs

June 07 2012-vs Sri Lanka- won by 6 wickets

March 22 2012-vs Bangladesh- won by 2 runs

Likely Starting XIs:

Sri Lanka: M Jayawardene(c), T Dilshan, K Sangakkara (wk), D Chandimal, L Thirimanne, U Tharanga, A Mathews, T Perera, N Kulasekara/S Senanayake, L Malinga/D Fernando, S Weerakoon

Pakistan:  M Hafeez, A Ali, Y Khan, A Shafiq, Misbah-ul-Haq(c), U Akmal, S Afridi, S Ahmed (wk), U Gul/A Cheema, S Ajmal, S Tanvir

Players to Watch

Kumar Sangakkara:  Having regained his form in the previous game, there will be no stopping this stylish left-hander from playing those classy shots to hand the hosts the upper hand in this game.

Azhar Ali: This Pakistani opener has been the only consistent batsman for the visitors and he will try to replicate his form in this crucial encounter.

Pitch: The same pitch is going to be used for the second game in three days and hence anything above 250 would be a winning total.

Prediction: Sri Lanka will prove why they are lions at home and stamp their authority with a win to seal the series 3-1.