Pakistan Beat Srilanka Convincingly

ASIA CUP MATCH – 3

PAKISTAN S SRILANKA

SRILANKA – 188/10 (45.4 OVERS)

PAKISTAN – 189/4 IN (39.5 OVERS)

Pakistan Beat Srilanka Convincingly

Another amazing game of cricket where Pakistan beat Srilanka with a convincing win and getting some good points for the finals. Srilanka on the other hand got some serious business to do and there is a very slight chance for them to make it in the finals. An another exciting clash of Asia Cup Not so exciting owing to Sri Lanka's flat performance in the field but the Pakistanis really turned on the heat with the way they played. Pakistan seems to be in a good form playing some serious cricket these days.

Aizaz Cheema (MoM): I was under a lot of pressure but the captain came to me and asked me not to get defensive and to continue to attack. With the newer ball I thought it will come onto the bat even if I bowl the slower deliveries so I kept that for the end. I am very happy with my performance today because the way the opposition started today I thought it wouldn't be my day. But Afridi and the captain came to me and asked me to bowl with aggression and bowl some bouncers so that really helped me.

Misbah: Once we lost three wickets they were in the hunt but I think Umar and I batted really well today. I just kept telling him to play normal shots, it is just a matter of batting 50 overs and we knew if we kept batting the runs would come. When Cheema was hit for a lot of fours in the first few overs I told him that his main weapon is aggression and he must use that. You can't look to just restrict on these sort of wickets. It gives us a real edge to have bowlers like Ajmal in our side. It was important for me to just come and play a good knock to get my confidence back after the England series. We have to improve our performance despite the win. We need to improve our batting if we can do that then our batting will always keep us in the hunt.

Mahela: I think our fans have always supported us everywhere. I think where we went wrong was with our batting. We got a good start but lost wickets too frequently and exposed our lower middle order too early. I was timing the ball well, I guess when you start hitting the ball that well you start taking a few risks. I think thats what happened and a lot was left to be done for Kumar. It is disappointing, you always go into any tournament coming in to win and you want to get into the final. So it is disappointing when you don't. We looked a little flat today, we just have to keep improving and look to get back for the remaining games well. .The batting order can go either way. The day the seniors retire there will be no one to bat in the middle order if I continue to stick to that position. These youngsters have batted well so far, they have made a few mistakes but one can only learn from mistakes. Difficult to get into an argument about the batting order just after one match.

Pakistan has outclassed their opponents today. Mahela who has impressed as a captain so far looked absolutely clueless today. Sri Lanka failed to put up a challenging total on the board and despite making a few early inroads, the total was just not enough. Umar Akmal and Misbah steadied the ship after those quick losses and really took their side through till the end.

Akmal perished in the process of trying to secure the bonus point but Hammad Azam came in and struck the 5th ball that he faced to the fence to secure that extra point. Sri Lanka have had a dismal Asia Cup so far and now they are more or less out of the tournament. There is a mathematical chance for them to go through to the final but for that they need a few results to go in their favour. Pakistan are now almost through to the final.

India takes Revenge

ASIA CUP 2012 – MATCH (2)

INDIA VS SRILANKA

INDIA 304/3 IN (50 Overs)

SRILANKA 254 ALLOUT IN(45.1 OVERS)

Date: 13/03/2012

India takes Revenge

After a huge disaster in CB Series against Srilanka, India bounced back on the Lankans with a 50 run margin by defeating Sri Lankans. Great start this for India. Although it is very early in the tournament, India find themselves at the top of the table.

Virat (MoM): I am very happy with this performance. Considering that we came from different conditions in Australia it is very satisfying. I was just trying to hit the ball well and I am happy that it was happening. Me and Gautam have got big partnerships between us and we understand how we play. We run well between the wickets and we don't really need to tell each other what to do. It is very satisfying when the wicket is slow and you have to adjust and control the rush of blood and not hit that boundary but it is nice when it results in your favour. The vice captaincy is a great honour for me, especially at the age of 23 I didn't really expect it but I will try and make the most of it.

Dhoni: It was difficult when Mahela was batting. The wicket changed a bit and the ball was coming on to the bat. The batsmen were scoring well, not to forget Praveen had an off day and they went after Jadeja. It was difficult to manage and that's why I had to get on my part time bowlers. I think Irfan supported the attack well and Praveen came back well. I think Gautam and Virat batted very sensibly and they ran well between the wickets. There weren't too many boundaries and it was a difficult one but they batted well and gave us a good start. When you lose a toss here and have to defend it becomes difficult because the ball comes onto the bat better later in the day. Maybe when the tournament progresses it might become slower and it might not be so easy to bat. Sri Lanka didn't have a few of their key players but still I am happy with our effort.

Mahela: I think when you are chasing something like that, the guys who make starts have to carry on. I think I played a bad shot to get out. We needed to keep our heads together and chase the score down but we couldn't really do that. I think India set up their innings nicely with Virat and Gambhir at the top. It is tough to bowl to people like Dhoni and Suresh since they are big hitters. We made a lot of mistakes today, with the bat, in the field and with the ball. We can still take a lot of positives from this games. I think the new guys bowled really well. But we can't keep making mistakes like this because we might go out of the tournament then. I enjoy batting at the top of the order because I can play my shots, it is easy to bat with Dilshan and Kumar. But then again I think I played a bad shot to get out.

Irfan Pathan was India's best bet with the ball as far as figures are concerned. He took four wickets and went for just 32 runs in his eight overs. India ended up bowling far better after the batting powerplay and it was that phase that really earned them the victory. Mahela and Sangakkara will be gutted though that they couldn't see their side across the finish line despite getting a very good start.

The Asia Cup is turning out to be a tournament filled with lots of twists. Sri Lanka looked to be cruising at the beginning courtesy a blistering knock by Mahela. Sangakkara joined in after Dilshan's early departure and the duo really got after the Indian bowlers and steadied the ship.

For most parts of the game Sri Lanka looked like they were on course to clinching the victory but it was the batting powerplay that turned this game around. Sri Lanka tried to be a little too aggressive during the batting powerplay. Ashwin bowled a decisive over, in fact the first one in the powerplay and he did extremely well to pick up two quick wickets including that of Sangakkara. From there on Sri Lanka began their slide and India clawed their way back into the match.

Pakistan Beat Bangladesh in Opening Ceremony

                                                              ASIA CUP 2012

HOST: BANGLADESH

TEAMS: INDIA, SRILANKA, BANGLADESH, PAKISTAN

MATCH 1: PAKISTAN VS BANGLADESH

Pakistan 262/8 in 50 overs

Bangladesh 241/10 in 48.1 overs

Date: 11^th March 2012

Pakistan Beat Bangladesh in Opening Ceremony

What a match! A sad end for the home team and a perfect start for Pakistan. Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Gul put in impressive all-round performances as Pakistan posted an exciting 21-run victory over Bangladesh in the opening match of the Asia Cup tournament on Sunday. Opener Hafeez top-scored with a solid 89 and then grabbed two wickets, while Gul made a crucial 39 and took three wickets before Pakistan bowled Bangladesh out for 241 after posting 262-8 in the day-night match in Dhaka.

The duo upstaged Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who sustained his team's hopes with a 66-ball 64 before being the last man out. Hafeez was named man of the match. The hosts were struggling at 135-5, but Shakib and Nasir Hossain (47) gave some anxious moments to Pakistan with an 89-run stand for the sixth wicket.

Bangladeshi opener Tamim Iqbal, initially dropped from the squad by the country's cricket chief before being added as a 15th member, scored 64 with the help of one six and six fours. But Hafeez bowled well-set Tamim and trapped Mohammad Mahmudullah leg-before with his next delivery before Gul dismissed Nasir and Shakib to complete Pakistan's victory.

Pakistan were earlier well placed at 160-1 following a 135-run stand for the opening wicket between Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed (54) before they lost six wickets for just 38 runs. Paceman Shahadat Hossain (3-53) and left-arm spinner Shakib (2-41) did the damage, but Gul added 53 vital runs for the eighth wicket with Sarfraz Ahmed (19 not out).

Pakistan made a steady start after being put in to bat as Hafeez and Jamshed batted confidently against both pace and spin, playing some handsome shots during their 27.5-over stand. Jamshed, who played his last one-dayer in August 2009, hit one six and five fours in his 64-ball knock before he was run out soon after completing his fifth half-century.

Shahadat started Pakistan's slide when he dismissed Younis Khan (12), Hafeez and Asad Shafiq (four) in successive overs. Hafeez looked set to reach his fourth one-day hundred before he was caught by Shafiul Islam at square-leg while attempting to pull Shahadat. He hit seven fours in his 126-ball knock.

Shakib removed Umar Akmal (21) and then held a return catch in the same over to account for Shahid Afridi after fumbling twice before finally holding the ball as it ricocheted off non-striker Misbah-ul-Haq. Afridi, who was just one short of 7,000 one-day runs, failed to open his account.

Defending champions India and Sri Lanka are the other teams in the fray. Each side will play the other once in the round-robin league, with the top two advancing to the final on March 22.