da realbet： On paper Pakistan and Sri Lanka are ‘even stevens’ andSunday’s Khaleej Times Trophy final is between two wellmatched sides loaded with explosive individuals capable ofchanging the fortune of the match
Rehan Siddiqui04-Nov-2001On paper Pakistan and Sri Lanka are ‘even stevens’ andSunday’s Khaleej Times Trophy final is between two wellmatched sides loaded with explosive individuals capable ofchanging the fortune of the match.In earlier two league outings the honours have been shared.Sri Lanka outplayed Pakistan in every facet of the game towin the first match by seven wickets.Pakistan evened the score by winning the second encounter bythe identical margin although faced a much stiffer target.Will it be Sanath Jayasuriya holding aloft the trophy forthe second successive time or Waqar Younis leading Pakistanto victory stand for the first time since taking theleadership mantle is anybody’s guess?Pakistan, rightly considered as the most unpredictable side,are good enough to beat the best on their day if perform totheir talent. But in recent times the Pakistanis have becomechokers specially when competing in the finals.The Sri Lankans on the other hand are better organized thantheir more talented rivals and have the psychological edgeover Pakistan having beaten them in last April’s final.While Pakistan rely on individuals brilliance for victorythe Sri Lankans work as a unit hoping everyone to chip inwith useful performances.Both teams rested their best players for Friday’s tie butwill be at full strength. Champion off-spinner MuttiahMuralitharan will be back to tantalize Pakistani batsmenprobably at the expense of Prabath Nissanka. So will bedemon pace bowler Wasim Akram and classy Saeed Anwar forPakistan. All-rounder Azhar Mahmood and off-spinner ShoaibMalik are likely to make way for the two battle-hardenedveterans.As the pitch is expected to be batsman-friendly a highscoring final is predicted.Teams (from):Pakistan: Waqar Younis (captain), Saeed Anwar,Inzamam-ul- Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi,Shoaib Akhtar, Abdur Razzaq, Naved Latif, Rashid Latif,Wasim Akram, Shoaib Malik, Azhar Mahmood.Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), AvishkaGunawardena, Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardena, RusselArnold, Kumar Sangakkara, Romesh Kaluwitharana, KumarDharmasena, Chaminda Vaas, Charith Buddhika, MuttiahMuralitharan, Prabath Nissanka, Dulip Liyanage.