Afridi enjoying invigorated Pakistan.

Just a week ago, few would have slated Pakistan among the World Cup favourites - but that was a week ago.

Since then, they have obliterated Kenya by 205 runs and then on Saturday, really showed off their title credentials by beating co-hosts Sri Lanka by 11 runs.

That margin of victory looks slim but Pakistan were in control for most of the Sri Lankan innings and only a couple of late slogs and generously wayward bowling took the co-hosts so relatively close.

In their captain Shahid Afridi, enjoying a new lease of life in this tournament at the age of 30, Pakistan boast one of the most dangerously in-form men of the World Cup.

He has yet to take off with the bat because generally the Pakistan upper order have functioned but his wide, bewildering array of deliveries is making leg spinner Afridi almost unplayable as a bowler on the evidence so far.

Against Kenya he took a World Cup career-best five wickets and followed up with four more on Saturday against Kumar Sangakkara's far more accomplished batsmen. That included his 300th victim in one-day cricket, fittingly Sangakkara on 49.

How he is relishing this opportunity in the form of the game that surely suits his mercurial talents and nature best.

"It's a great feeling performing like this," Afridi said after winning the man-of-the-match award against Sri Lanka on Saturday, in which he became only the 11th player past that 300-wicket milestone in 50-over cricket.

"Three hundred wickets was my goal as an all rounder. It's a big achievement in one-day cricket."

Some fans, as ever demanding perfection, have missed his explosive 'boom-boom' batting performances in these matches.

"I am missing that too," he said. "But my first priority is bowling -- I want to focus on my bowling first and then batting.

"I think the way I am going and batting for just three overs or four overs, I try to play some big shots. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't."

The 1992 World Cup champions will next meet Canada in Colombo on Thursday with the north American cricketing whipping boys likely to be more cannon fodder for Afridi.

However, the skipper promises there will be no complacency, not with their 2007 World Cup shock first-round exit at the hands of Ireland still so fresh and painful in the memory.

"Every game is very important," he said. "Winning is a very good habit and in the next one or two games we will have one or two changes. We want to rest one or two guys. Otherwise we will play every game with all our strength."

Afridi knows there are several areas of their game still to polish if Pakistan, plagued by a corruption scandal before the World Cup, are to repeat their 1992 triumph in the business end of the tournament leading to the April 2 final.

Their fielding and catching against Sri Lanka was often distinctly ragged as catches were dropped and run out opportunities missed.

"That was not the way to field. I think we should improve more for upcoming games," said Afridi.

Nevertheless, Afridi, who was not always the first choice of the Pakistan cricket board to lead the team, is happy with the way senior players are generally taking responsibility in bowling and batting and the team spirit looks sky high.

Asked whether his side have now become one of the favourites to win this World Cup, Afridi has no doubt: "Definitely."

World Cup - Pakistan claim Colombo win.

Pakistan secured an 11-run victory over Sri Lanka in Colombo to top World Cup Group A after the hosts failed to chase down 278 runs batting second.

Shahid Afridi's side posted 277 for seven after the all-rounder won the toss and elected to bat first, as Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq both recorded half-centuries.

Sri Lanka raced to 76 without loss, but faltered badly in their middle order as Afridi claimed four scalps for 34 runs to reach 300 one-day international wickets and their run-chase petered out on 266 for nine.

Pakistan stalwarts Khan and Misbah shared a century partnership as the pair came together after Pakistan were reduced to 105 for three and they provided a solid foundation as Pakistan seized the supremacy between the two former champions.

Earlier, Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal were left wondering which of them was out after a mix-up left them both comically stranded at the same end.

Kamran Akmal scampered to the striker's end for a quick single when Hafeez swept the ball behind the wicket facing off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan in the 13th over. Hafeez did not move an inch, even after Sri Lanka wicketkeeper and skipper Kumar Sangakkara's initial wayward throw flew well over Muralitharan. Angelo Mathews successfully returned it to the bowler for the simplest of run outs.

Once Younus and Misbah came together, they employed a safety-first strategy and nudged the ball through gaps to pick up singles and twos instead of trying to score off boundaries against tight bowling and sharp fielding by the Sri Lankans.

Younus struck four fours in his knock of 72 before he top edged a sweep off Herath to Mahela Jayawardene at short fine leg. Misbah kept a cool head and played a solid innings to remain unbeaten 83 with six fours and batting with a runner.

Upal Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan assumed a strong early position for their side with 76 on the board for no loss, but a steady stream of dismissals followed as Sri Lanka lost their way.

Captain Sangakkara led the way with a controlled and composed 49, but Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera departed for a combined total of three runs as Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar seized the initiative for Pakistan.

Chamara Silva compiled 57 runs, but at such a pedestrian rate the number six did little to inspire or inject urgency into his side's run-chase. Indeed, it took Silva a full 67 deliveries to muster his first boundary.

Another sloppy display in the field threatened to derail Pakistan's challenge, with two missed stumpings by Kamran Akmal, a string of dropped catches and 29 extras undermining the bowlers' efforts.

Kulasekara racked up a swift 24 as Sri Lanka were left to require an improbable 18 runs off the final over, but Umar Gul ensured that Pakistan held on to claim an 11-run win.

The victory moves Pakistan above Australia with the two sides having both recorded two successive wins as the top teams jostle for position with the quarter-finals at the back of their minds.

Jubilant Pakistan hope to down hosts today.

COLOMBO: In Hambantota last Wednesday, it was child’s play for Pakistan as they toyed with minnows Kenya on their way to a 205-run triumph.

But fun time is over for the Greenshirts. They will have to raise their game to a higher level as they look to conquer Sri Lanka, one of the serious contenders for World Cup 2011.

In a way, it’s not really a do-or-die match for either team. Even the side that loses the game on Saturday (today) would most likely be progressing to the quarter-finals.

But then it’s also quite an important game as its outcome could impact the quarter-final line-up, as Waqar Younis, the Pakistan coach aptly pointed out here on Friday.

“It’s an important game of course. In this tournament, for momentum it is important and to get to the quarter-finals and in which stage, position you get there, in that sense it’s very important. If you want to go ahead, you have to build momentum,” said Waqar.

Waqar admitted that Sri Lanka will be a tough team to beat. “Sri Lanka in their home ground is very good. It’s very difficult to beat them because the conditions and weather here help them. But the way we’ve played and trained and with the momentum, I am hopeful we can beat them.”

Sri Lanka have a much-touted bowling attack with spin ace Muttiah Muralitharan being one of their most potent weapons.

But Waqar is confident that his batsmen have the ability to tackle Murali.

“We’ve played really well against him in this country. I don’t think we should worry about him that much, he is not 28 anymore. It is not going to be easy for him anymore. We’re prepared not only for him but the entire team,” he stressed.

Both teams began their World Cup campaigns with a bang with Sri Lanka thrashing Canada by 210 runs and Pakistan recording a 205-run win over Kenya. Both know it’s going to be much more serious business as they clash here at the R Premadasa Stadium in front of over 30,000 spectators.

Pakistan have won all their six World Cup games against Sri Lanka but Kumar Sangakkara is confident that his team has the firepower to reverse the tide. “I wasn’t really aware of that history so yeah maybe it’s time to change that now, hopefully tomorrow if we can do our basics better than Pakistan I think we have a pretty good chance,” the Sri Lankan captain told reporters here on Friday.

But Sangakkara admitted that his team is wary of the dangerous Pakistanis. “I think they’ve got a team all 11 players are capable of doing that they’ve got a great batting line-up well balanced — good pace and good spin, so against them you just got to be mentally strong and absorb as much pressure as you can and keep competing with them because you can make them crack under pressure at certain situation so you got to be in the game until those situations come up,” said the seasoned batsman.

Sangakkara believes that both teams are almost evenly-matched in the bowling department. “I think both the sides have good pace and good spin. I think that’s been a vast improvement for us actually to have good fast bowlers in our squad, we have guys who bowl over 140, we

have guys who could swing and seam as well so I think it’s going to be a battle between two teams who are looking forward to a very keen contest and whichever side can do whatever their discipline is better than the other will probably come out on top.”

Teams:

Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (captain), Misbah-ul-Haq (vice-captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar.

Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Matthews, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan, Rangana Herath.

Kenya sink without trace in massive chase

Kenya again appeared totally out of their depth and posed no challenge to Pakistan at Hambantota, Collins Obuya's death-or-glory 47 being the only highlight for them as Shahid Afridi helped himself to 5 for 16 in a massive 205-run win, Pakistan's biggest win in World Cups and the eighth largest overall.

Four of Pakistan's batsmen cashed in to raise half-centuries and set up a total of 317 for 7 after a brief wobble against the new ball and Kenya made little effort to mount a serious challenge in their pursuit, rather looking to a lay a solid platform in the hope of batting out their full quota of overs. That ultimately proved a futile effort, too, although their innings did at least last until the 34th over - longer than their entire match against New Zealand three days ago.

Kenya's slide began in earnest when Afridi brought himself on and, in his third over, tempted Steve Tikolo down the pitch only for the ball to rush straight on to rattle the stumps. Kenya were 73 for 3 in the 23rd over when Tikolo was dismissed, without any real hope of chasing more than 300 but at least looking steady enough to last the full 50 after the top order had showed at least a little grit. There was no such offering from the middle, however, as the remaining seven wickets fell for just 39 runs in just over ten overs.

Afridi was the chief wrecking ball, quickly ending a bustling innings from Tanmay Mishra and making short work of Jimmy Kamande and Thomas Odoyo as he unfurled a mixed bag of legbreaks, sliders and quicker ones as the ball began to bite and spit off the surface. Amid the carnage, Obuya opened up to smite three enormous sixes but was caught on the boundary attempting a fourth to give Afridi the best figures by a Pakistan bowler in a World Cup, beating Wasim Akram's 5 for 28 against Namibia in Kimberley at the 2003 tournament. Once he went, the end was mercifully quick in coming.

Ultimately they flattered to deceive, but against expectations Kenya had actually bossed the opening exchanges of the match, Thomas Odoyo and Elijah Otieno showing admirable control with the new ball. Otieno provided the first breakthrough when Hafeez tried to force a length delivery into the leg side but hit it uppishly and Seren Waters, at straight midwicket, leapt to his left and managed to cling onto a juggled catch mere inches from the turf. In the very next over Shehzad, who had scratched around for 17 balls that yielded just a single run, chipped a leading edge to give Jimmy Kamande a simple catch at mid-off and Pakistan were in some serious strife.

The pressure soon began to lift, however, Kamran Akmal and Younis Khan quickly settling and Nehemiah Odhiambo suffering a shambolic start to his spell as 16 runs came from a first over that included three no-balls. Kamran proved the more fluent of the two early in his innings but Younis provided sensible support and, as the spinners came on, plenty of ones and twos were taken to keep the score ticking over.

Kamran eased past 50, from 62 balls, and looked set for plenty more before he charged down the wicket to left-arm spinner Shem Ngoche and was easily stumped. Kenya were buzzing once more with the breakthrough, but despite giving a far a far better account of themselves than they had against New Zealand at Chennai they lacked the necessary firepower to land the killer blow.

Misbah-ul-Haq opened his World Cup account with a massive six off Tikolo and rushed into the 20s at better than a-run-a-ball to complement the more circumspect Younis, who showed the value of steady accumulation before he was dismissed lbw for exactly 50 despite an optimistic review.

Misbah and Umar Akmal were barely troubled as they set about compiling a 118 runs for the fifth wicket, their partnership exploding into life as the Batting Powerplay was called for in the 44th over immediately after Misbah had reached fifty on his World Cup debut. Umar thrashed 20 off a weary Otieno's seventh over and soon sprinted to the fourth fifty of the innings as the score passed 250 in the 46th over. With Pakistan now swinging from the hip at just about everything, Kenya picked up regular wickets but threatened to unravel completely in the face of an all-out assault.

Odoyo removed Umar and Afridi from consecutive deliveries to find himself on a hat-trick in the 49th over but speared the next ball acres down the leg side and repeated the blunder later in the same over as battle fatigue set in. Extras, with 46, very nearly became the fifth half-century maker of the innings as Kenya had the ignominious honour of equalling the record for most wides in a one-day international, and there was a visible sense of relief as they finally completed their stint in the field.

Kamran, Younis fight for Pak recovery

HAMBANTOTA: After losing two early wickets for just 12 runs, Pakistan are fighting hard for recovery in Group A match of the ICC World Cup 2011 here at the Mahinda Rajapakse stadium on Wednesday.

Wicketkeeper batsman Kamran Akmal and veteran batsman Younis Khan are batting on 41 and 28, respectively as Both the experienced batsmen have taken Pakistan out of trouble.

Now, Pakistan are 87-2 after 20 overs.

Earlier, captain Shahid Khan Afridi won the toss and decided to bat but their start was disastrous as both openers fell early to Kenyan pace-bowlers..

Both Kenyan opening bowlers dominated the scene in early overs to keep Pakistan in pressure.

First, Elijah Otieno removed Mohammad Hafeez, caught by Waters for nine when Pakistan were 11 on the board and in the next over, Thomas Odoyo dismissed Ahmed Shahzad for one.

However, Kamran and Younis handled the situation and soon took their team out of trouble.

In Group A, all teams except Pakistan have so far played one match each as Pakistan are going to play their first match in the tournament today.

Pakistan chose left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman in addition to their three-man seam attack of Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul and Abdul Razzaq.

Kenya, who crashed to New Zealand in their first match by 10 wickets after being shot out for 69 on Sunday, left out opener Alex Obanda and brought in Tanmay Mishar as the only change in their side.

Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (captain), Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Ahmed Shahzad.

Can Kenya challenge Pakistan?

It's not the exciting Umar Akmal, the marauding Shahid Afridi, the blaster Abdul Razzaq, or the volatile Shoaib Akthar who captures the essence of this Pakistan team but the back-from-the-dead Misbah-ul-Haq. He was never supposed to be here, back playing international cricket. He was plagued by form issues, was not growing any younger, and just when you thought he was history, Pakistan made him the Test captain. They said he will prove a bad investment, that he will roll up and surrender but what did he do? He kept scoring fifties, also sparkled in the ODIs against New Zealand and nearly became the ODI captain. In many ways, the Pakistan team is like him. Spot-fixing, aging stars, cocky youngsters and loss of good bowlers to controversies should have rendered them impotent, but they are the dark horse in this tournament.

Pakistan showed in New Zealand that they like to play the game the 80's way: Start steady, build during the middle overs and explode in the end. They have Misbah and Younis Khan to build, the Akmal brothers and the Afridi-Razzaq combination to finish in style but in Ahmed Shehzad they have unearthed someone who can provide them with a fiery start. The loss of Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir might hurt their Test team but Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Shoaib and the canny spinners Abdur Rehman and Saeed Ajmal have enough skill in them to keep their ODI bandwagon up and running in style.

For their part, Kenya are trying to breathe after the demolition under the hands of New Zealand. For what it's worth, it could be the best thing that happened to them. Now they would know there is no point in trying to play a safe game and meander towards defeat. They were nervous in the first game, never dared to express themselves, and sunk without a trace. Even in that performance, there was evidence that they possess a few batsmen with some flair. Collins Obuya flirted, albeit briefly, with flamboyance, Steve Tikolo will be itching to script a memorable swan song, Alex Obanda is an attacking batsman and the young Seren Waters seems to possess the skill required to belong at this level. They beat Netherlands in a friendly in Dubai and lost a close game in a warm-up encounter in this tournament. You feel they are a much better team than the outfit that turned up against New Zealand. Can they shed their big-stage.?