Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka

[DexteR]

Pakistan will tour Sri Lanka in June for three Tests, five one-day internationals and two Twenty20 matches.

The Pakistanis will kick off the six-week tour with two Twenty20 matches in the southern port town of Hambantota on June 1 and June 3.
The first two one-day internationals will be played in Pallekele on June 7 and June 9, followed by the remaining three at the Premadasa stadium in Colombo on June 13, 16 and 18.


The three back-to-back Tests will be held in Galle (June 22-26), the Sinhalese sports club in Colombo (June 30-July 4) and Pallekele (July 8-12).


Pakistan last toured Sri Lanka in 2009 where they lost the Test series 2-0.
The two sides met in the United Arab Emirates last year where Pakistan won both the Test and one-day series and also clinched the lone Twenty20 international.


Tour itinerary:
June 1 : First Twenty20 international, Hambantota
June 3 : Second Twenty20 international, Hambantota
June 7 : First one-dayer, Pallekele
June 9 : Second one-dayer, Pallekele
June 13: Third one-dayer, Colombo
June 16: Fourth one-dayer, Colombo
June 18: Fifth one-dayer, Colombo
June 22-26: First Test, Galle
June 30-July 4: Second Test, Colombo
July 8-12: Third Test, Pallekele.

[Sadaf Gondal]

har gay

[sheem]

Kiya kahon aaj k match k bare mai jo bekar batting ki hai mujhe tu lgta hai khud hafeez k under nahi khelna chahte islye out hogye hain

[DaNgErOuS tEaRs]

sb se achi shot afridi ki thi

[DexteR]

Izzat ka falooda ho gaya

[sheem]

Nahi umar akmal ki thi ... Malinga jaise bowler ko marne chala tha

[Mr. Bean]

me to Ajmal par umeed kar k baitha tha k Match Jitwaye ga woh bhi nahi chala



























chalo koi nahi next main Ajmal Open karay ga







Bottles sab Team k liye

[DexteR]

No excuses for failed chase - Mohammad Hafeez

Mohammad Hafeez, Pakistan's new Twenty20 captain, has said there was no excuse for his team not chasing 132 in the first match against Sri Lanka, despite them returning to the international circuit after a two-month layoff. Hafeez made an encouraging start to his new role by restricting the hosts' strong batting line-up, but his first-ball duck was the start of Pakistan's slide.

After the defeat in his maiden game as captain, Hafeez was philosophical, admitting that Pakistan were beaten by a better team. He said the pitch was difficult to bat on, but didn't offer that as an excuse for his side crumbling to 95. He didn't attribute the loss to Pakistan's lack of match practice over the last couple of months either.

Pakistan had the upper hand at the start thanks to Sohail Tanvir's incisive new-ball spell and some poor shot selection. Sri Lanka were struggling 96 for 7 at one stage but Thisara Perera's late 32 converted a paltry score to a match-winning one.

"As a bowling unit we did well to restrict them to 132. Tanvir was brilliant with the new ball," Hafeez said. "This was a difficult pitch to bat on and we were hoping to restrict them to 110-120 after getting seven wickets. But in the end Perera made the difference. He took the game away from us."

Umar Gul, one of Pakistan's most effective slog-over bowlers, had a poor game, conceding 43 in four overs. "We also thought that on this pitch, had we batted first, we would have posted 140," Hafeez said. "But we did not finish well when we bowled. Umar Gul is usually our match-winner but today he wasn't able to do that job. Having said that, 132 was still chaseable but if your main batsmen fail then it's very difficult to win such games."

Pakistan were jolted early when Hafeez and debutant Shakeel Ansar were dismissed with the first two deliveries of the chase. The number of dot balls in the first half of the innings increased the pressure, as did Sri Lanka's effective fielding. Two experienced batsmen capable of changing the game, Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi, were sent back by terrific catching. Commenting on Pakistan's approach, Hafeez said there was no specific plan to be watchful after the loss of two wickets.

"There was no such instruction for the two batsmen [Ahmed Shehzad and Khalid Latif] to be defensive," Hafeez said. "They were trying hard and Angelo Mathews bowled a good spell. I think as a batsman it's up to him to decide how to approach the situation, how to build the innings."

Hafeez is leading an experimental Twenty20 side with a few new players, after Misbah-ul-Haq was dropped from the format. He backed the squad to come good ahead of the World Twenty20 in September.

[sheem]

Dekho kal kiya gul khilate hain

[DexteR]

Dekho kal kiya gul khilate hain

Umer Gul khilayen gey.

[DexteR]

Pakistan aim to square series

Match facts
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Start time 1900 (1330 GMT)

Big Picture
Pakistan landed in Sri Lanka with a new captain and a new coaching set-up. But then some old problems returned to trouble them. In the tour opener, the Pakistan batsmen squandered a good opportunity to take a lead in the two-match series. On Sunday, they can at best aim to square the series.

Pakistan have enough ability and experience in their ranks to bounce back and level the series. For that to happen though, the batsmen will need to play a tighter game and rotate the strike more often - they played out 60 dot balls in their innings and crawled to 23 during the Powerplay overs.

Pakistan's bowlers were steady until the last few overs. However, the decision to play Mohammad Sami in the XI did raise a few questions. Players like Yasir Arafat and Hammad Azam, who are only part of the Twenty20 squad, could have been tested ahead of Sami, who has also been picked for the five-match ODI series.

Sri Lanka didn't play a great game, but were just a notch better - Thisara Perera and Angelo Mathews made the difference. Sri Lanka's top-order trio which sporadically fired in the IPL, failed on Friday night. However, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara are as good as any in world cricket and if they can find some form, the talented middle order can put Pakistan under pressure on a slow pitch.

After a thumping win, Sri Lanka chose to stay away from practice on Saturday, while the Pakistan team trained in the evening. The match is expected to draw better crowds on Sunday as Monday is a public holiday in Sri Lanka.

Form guide:
(most recent first)
Pakistan: LLLWW
Sri Lanka: WLWWW

Players to watch
Angelo Mathews had a forgettable IPL season with Pune Warriors. But he did bowl regularly in the tournament, his injury concerns taking a back seat. That experience seemed to help as Mathews bowled a mean spell on Friday. One of the most talented allrounders around, Mathews would look to translate his bowling success to his batting.

Like Mathews, Pakistan's Umar Akmal oozes talent. In the last year, though, he has lost his place in the Test team. But with his hard-hitting and technically-sound batting style, he continues to be a dangerous player in the shorter formats.

Team news
Pakistan's three allrounders - Hafeez, Afridi and Shoaib Malik - are more than handy given the conditions in Sri Lanka and with Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal being automatic choices, Pakistan could consider going for a batsman.

Pakistan (possible): 1 Mohammad Hafeez (capt), 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Umar Akmal, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Khalid Latif/Haris Sohail, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Shakeel Ansar (wk), 8 Sohail Tanvir, 9 Mohammad Sami/Hammad Azam/Yasir Arafat, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Saeed Ajmal.

Sri Lanka may field the same XI that won on Friday.

Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Thisara Perera, 7 Lahiru Thirimanne, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Kaushal Lokuarachchi, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11. Sachithra Senanayake.

Stats and trivia
Pakistan and Sri Lanka have played each other eight times in T20Is, with Pakistan winning five.
Shoaib Malik is the leading run-scorer in Pakistan-Sri Lanka T20Is with 195 runs.
Quotes
"A score of 132 was still chaseable but if your main batsmen fail then it's very difficult to win such games."
Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez blamed the batsmen for the loss in the first T20I.
"I have enjoyed a fair amount of success as an opener in Twenty20, but my presence at the top depends on the team combination."