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.

Misbah rides on higher confidence.

It is difficult to believe both that, at 36, Misbah-ul-Haq hasn't played a World Cup before and that he is playing this one at all. Such was the force of his last axing, from all three formats no less, that until circumstances thrust him into the Test captaincy last October, his career was all but over.

Yet as the premier domestic batsman in Pakistan in the 2000s, many felt he had been treated unfairly in not being given at least one opportunity between 2003 and 2007; with Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan in the middle order during that period, however, it was difficult to see how he would get in.

But, like the best actors and boxers, he does comebacks exceedingly well. In 2007, after a four-year exile, he nearly won Pakistan a world title. In this latest return he has been even more remarkable; 65 against Kenya in Hambantota was his ninth international fifty in 12 innings across Tests and ODIs.

The player, he said during Pakistan's practice at the Premadasa in Colombo, does not change. "I've always said it is important for any player to get some self-belief and confidence back. You start scoring runs, the team starts believing in you and people's expectations of you increase and that gives you self-belief. And as your confidence builds your performance gets better. The player actually remains the same before and after, but with confidence higher, you perform better."

Had poker been an official pursuit in Pakistan, his face would've won him titles, so expecting him to express regret, or anger, or even blink twice, at being asked about missing past World Cups is futile. He is happy, he says, just to be playing at all. "I think whatever cricket you do play you should think about that. I am enjoying it at the moment, I have always enjoyed playing it, domestically or internationally and I only want to do what I can for the side."

Misbah's return has fitted in seamlessly with a gradual upswing in Pakistan's batting results over the last year or so, an under-scrutinised aspect of their performances. In 20 ODIs in Sri Lanka, England, the UAE and New Zealand, Pakistan have made 250 or more 13 times. Each member of the top six has made contributions at various stages, so that the problem has been one of plenty, of pacing an innings, of arranging the order so that momentum is not squandered and stability always present.

Misbah has come, as he did on Wednesday, mostly at five and has batted often in tandem with Younis Khan. Though the poor start then highlighted the calm the pair brings, against a better attack more oomph might be needed through the middle, an Umar Akmal breaking up the pair. Some in Pakistan, Imran Khan no less, want Misbah even higher in the order.

"The situation as it is, with the way the batting order is, all our batsmen have scored runs," Misbah said. "Kamran [Akmal] comes in at three and he has opened, Younis at four who has mostly played at three, the openers did well scoring hundreds in New Zealand, so we're not really feeling that our batting is missing something. We've got guys scoring runs and performing. Our batting order is fine and it is a good combination at the moment. Whatever the team needs, will happen. None of the players have any issues with where they are batting and what number."

Few attacks can match Sri Lanka's for potency or variety so Saturday, in what is likely to be an electric atmosphere, will be a comprehensive test of Pakistan. "Sri Lanka always, but especially in the last 2-3 years they have been very consistent, playing good cricket and in home conditions they are a very tough side," Misbah said.

"To get a good first win in this kind of tournament, with most of your batsmen scoring runs and then convincingly get them out, the morale gets high and players get into touch. It is a very vital match for both sides."

Sri Lanka eye return to Pakistan.

HAMBANTOTA Pakistan's cricketing isolation could end in October if Sri Lanka, who were targeted in a deadly terror attack in Lahore two years ago, agree to tour the troubled country.

Sri Lankan officials said Wednesday they were in talks with the International Cricket Council's Pakistan Task Team (PTT) to explore the possibilities.

We are still discussing the option with the ICC and with all the other board members, said Sri Lanka Cricket chairman Somachandra de Silva.

There are still some security concerns in Pakistan but if things improve, and Pakistan is a brotherly nation, we can consider it - all depends on the ICC's clearance, De Silva said.

Sri Lanka are scheduled to tour Pakistan in October this year under the Future Tests Programme.

According to reports in the Pakistani media, the governments of both countries are already in talks to hold the series in Pakistan.

The attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus on March 9, 2009, killed eight people and injured seven Sri Lankan players as well as their assistant coach, leading to the suspension of all international cricket in Pakistan.

Barely a month later, the ICC stripped Pakistan of its share of World Cup matches, forcing the team to play all their Group A matches in Sri Lanka, co-hosts with India and Bangladesh.

The suspension also meant Pakistan have been forced to play their home series in the United Arab Emirates, England and New Zealand for the last two years.

The ICC formed the Pakistan Task Team (PTT) with England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke to find ways of reviving international cricket in Pakistan and to help improve the disciplinary situation.

Even before the Lahore attacks, Pakistan was a no-go area for international teams because of security fears sparked in the wake of the 911 attacks on the United States which sparked a war against terror in and around the country.

Australia have not toured Pakistan since 1998, forcing Pakistan to play their home series in Sri Lanka and Sharjah in 2002 and in England last year.

Pakistan was also stripped of the right to host the 2008 Champions Trophy after Australia, South Africa and England refused to tour, forcing the ICC to move the tournament to South Africa, held in 2009.

Meanwhile, De Silva said he hoped Hambantota will become a major cricket venue in Sri Lanka.

It was only Colombo for the last two decades, but with Hambantota coming up for the World Cup matches we have brought cricket to the poor people and we will develop this, said the 68-year-old former Sri Lanka international.

De Silva said the stadium - which became one-day cricket's 177th venue when Sri Lanka played Canada on Sunday - will also host a Test against Australia.

We have decided to stage a Test in Hambantota against Australia when they tour in July this year and also one or two one-dayers in the same series. There is an option of staging World Twenty20 matches next year, said De Silva.

Sri Lanka will host the fourth edition of World Twenty20 next year.