Sri Lanka emerges as the winner of the opening match

Colombo, September 12: Sri Lankans won the opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy by eight wickets at the Premadasa Stadium on Thursday.

Jayasuriya went into this crucial game with a stiff shoulder as the injury he had sustained in the Morocco Cup final against South Africa last month had not healed completely. But the sinewy Lankan skipper smashed his 13th one-day hundred to ensure a dream beginning for the host team.

Jayasuriya finished with an unconquered 102 and seasoned batsman Aravinda de Silva remained unbeaten with 66 as the Lankans overhauled the mediocre target of 201 with more than thirteen overs to spare.

Pakistan chose to make first use of the Premadasa strip and openers Saeed Anwar and Shahid Afridi were choked for runs by some accurate bowling by Lankan new ball bowlers Chaminda Vaas and Pulasathi Gunaratne. Anwar later flourished for a while but the rest of the Pakistan batting was extremely disappointing.

Before the start of the tournament Saeed Anwar had said that the Champions Trophy will be a make or break event for him and he planned to retire if he failed to get going here. On Thursday the bearded left-hander showed flashes of his trademark elegance with a half-century but that was not enough to take Pakistan to a challenging total.

The talented Anwar, who in recent times is clearly battling more with himself than with anything else, played some classy drives and delicate nudges in his half-century but could not carry on to get a hundred that might have put him back on track in international cricket after a hiatus from the game due to a tragedy in his family.

When the Pakistan innings began, their batsmen were in a self-destruct mode, trying to go for sharp singles without giving much thought to the sharp Sri Lankan fielding.

Shahid Afridi batted the way he usually does — in a flashy, rash and impatient manner. After facing a dozen balls he departed edging to wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakarra.

Yousuf Youhana’s return after the disciplinary action against him did not turn out to be productive.
He had to return to the pavilion after facing just one ball after being involved in a terrible mix-up with Saeed Anwar. Muthiah Muralitharan’s return to keeper Kumar Sangakarra was flat and accurate and Youhana was way out of the crease.

After the fall of three quick wickets, Anwar and Younis Khan batted cautiously before the latter became the first victim of Muralitharan — being bowled around his legs.

Pakistan had to leave out Inzamam-ul-Haq from their starting eleven as the stocky batsman had not recovered completely from an ankle injury. Misbah-ul-Haq took his place in the side. Misbah made good use of the opportunity provided by Inzamam’s injury to score 47.

It was the Pakistan batting which let the team down once again. In the recently concluded tri-series in Nairobi, Australia had dismissed the same Pakistan batting for totals less than 150. Even on Thursday Pakistan barely managed to reach the 200 mark.