Gunawardene spurs Sri Lanka to second win

Avishka Gunawardene stroked 88 as Sri Lanka surged to their second consecutive victory in the Sharjah Champions Trophy, beating Pakistan by seven wickets on Saturday.

Sri Lanka reached a modest target of 177 in 38.1 of the 50 overs to follow their 63-run victory against Zimbabwe in the opening game of the tournament on Friday.

The convincing win was set up by pace pair Dilhara Fernando and debutant Prabath Nissanka, who shared five top order wickets as Pakistan were bowled out for 176.

Although Pakistan hit back when fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar removed Sri Lanka skipper Sanath Jayasuriya for 19, Gunawardene and Marvan Atapattu (21) prospered in a stand of 78 runs in 90 balls for the second wicket.

When Atapattu fell to medium-pacer Abdur Razzaq, Sri Lanka needed 56 in 28 overs, a task they achieved without fuss.

Gunawardne cracked 13 fours in his 123-ball innings, before Mahela Jayawardene (29 not out) and Russel Arnold (10 not out) completed the job.

Earlier, Pakistan were undermined as Fernando struck three early blows on his way to taking three for 43 and Nissanka captured two for 24, with effective support coming from off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and the slow left-arm of Jayasuriya.

Muralitharan took one for 20 in his 10 overs and Jayasuriya finished with three for 30.

Yousuf Youhana, who made 47 off 72 balls, with two fours and one six, and Razzaq (27) provided some substance for the Pakistanis, who have played little international cricket in the past four months.

Rash strokes from their premier batsmen and the absence of Inzamam-ul-Haq, who is serving a two-match ban, compounded Pakistan's woes on a slow pitch.

Fernando removed Taufiq Umer, Shahid Afridi and Saeed Anwar in quick succession to leave Pakistan tottering at 41 for three by the 10th over.

Nissanka, who was greeted with a four by Youhana, quickly got into the act with the wickets of Younis Khan and Rashid Latif, both falling to poor strokes.

Youhana and Razzaq added exactly 50 for the sixth wicket, before the former fell to Jayasuriya trying to force the pace and Razzaq snicked to wicketkeeper Romesh Kaluwitharana off Muralitharan.

Jayasuriya, bowling to a good line and length, got rid of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis to hasten the end of Pakistan innings after 46.2 overs.

Pakistan innings
Sri Lankan innings

Mail Cricket Editor