Voice Of PK

Pakistan hit the stumps twice in the third quarter of the game, straddling a feverish 106-run stand between Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara to leave the third ODI poised for an intriguing finish. Umar Gul produced a corker in his first over to remove Upul Tharanga, but Pakistan were unable to make further breaches with the new balls in juicy conditions for the seamers. Sangakkara and Dilshan survived by mixing shaky defence with million-dollar shots, but their iffy running between the wickets separated them when they had the chase under control.

Gul began proceedings with a wide that swung sharply down the leg side, and a loosener outside off stump that Tharanga clattered for four. The next ball landed on a length, and Tharanga played for Gul's stock inward movement. But the ball landed on the seam and skidded viciously past Tharanga's bat face to flatten off stump. Gul then paraded a series of impeccable legcutters, and Dilshan kept missing ambitious drives.

Sohail Tanvir's loose wrists and wrong-footed release from over the stumps produced a contrasting set of problems. Dilshan was squared up more than once, Sangakkara was hit on the thigh by one that darted away as survival proved tricky. But both batsmen had the shots to wriggle out of trouble: Sangakkara glanced Gul with the angle, before slapping him square for four. Dilshan carved Gul over cover and hacked Tanvir through point, before redirecting Abdul Razzaq through the off side twice, all for boundaries.

Shoaib Malik, on as a substitute fielder, was the first run-out offender when he under-armed high over the stumps even as Sangakkara stumbled into the crease. Dilshan had to hustle through after calling Sangakkara for another dodgy single in the 18th over.

Things reached a head in the next over when Dilshan refused a single after pushing to Afridi at cover and setting off. Both batsmen were haring towards the keeper's end, and Afridi's throw to Sarfraz Ahmed beat both of them. Sarfraz, however, flicked one bail off before collecting the ball even as Dilshan ran into him. Sarfraz regrouped and shied at the other end, but this time Sangakkara, making a questionably circuitous turn, came in the way of the throw. Pakistan couldn't complete the run out, and their appeal was only for the miss at Dilshan's end, which was rightly over-ruled by the third umpire. They, however, had a stronger case under the new rules against Sangakkara.

They didn't have to wait long for redemption. In the 23rd over, Sangakkara pushed straight to mid-on and took off in a mad dash. The throw this time did not go to the keeper, but smashed out the stumps at the striker's end with Sangakkara well short. The cameras panned to the trademark celebration of the fielder, the only man in the Pakistan team who puts his arms out and soaks in the adulation. He may have to hit the stumps a few more times if Pakistan are to leave Dubai with a 2-1 lead.

50 overs Pakistan 257 for 8 (Hafeez 83, Farhat 70, Prasanna 2-39) v Sri Lanka

Pakistan were 150 for 0 in 29 overs, but the pitch was not flat, and run-making wasn't easy. They then lost 5 for 43 in the next 10 overs, but the wicket hadn't suddenly started playing tricks. The truth lay somewhere in between: Imran Farhat and Mohammad Hafeez were tested on a strip hosting its third game in eight days, but were helped by a tame bowling effort. Sri Lanka's spinners, led by the leggie Seekkuge Prasanna, hit back in the middle overs, but were aided by a raft of poor strokes. After lurching unpredictably through the bulk of the innings, both sides were relegated to guarding their positions in the end overs, leaving Sri Lanka chasing 258 for a 2-1 lead.

That Pakistan got so far despite the middle-overs slump was down to the exemplary opening stand - the biggest for any wicket in Dubai - that came in tricky conditions. There was prodigious shape off the seam as evidenced by the very first ball of the day, that Hafeez edged to third man. There was sluggish, but unpredictable, lift almost everytime the bowlers kept it back of a length, as Hafeez found out twice in the space of two overs. He was struck on the glove by one that bounced extra, and played early at another to spoon a return catch that Thisara Perera couldn't grab. There was also true bounce when the bowlers put their shoulder into it, as Farhat discovered when he was caught amidships by a sharp Dilhara Fernando bouncer that clunked him on the helmet. Farhat was shaken, but not stirred.

He rolled back into gear with two smooth drives into the covers off Thisara. With the mischief in the pitch making itself apparent, Hafeez chose to be sedate. Prasanna trapped him on the sweep in front of the stumps, but Marais Erasmus' original not-out ruling stayed on review though a good portion of the ball was hitting off stump. Sri Lanka, thereafter, provided width on either side of the stumps, aiding the safest scoring options on a sluggish strip - dabs, glances and steers behind the wicket.

Hafeez had meandered to 24 off 55 balls when he opened his wrists and cracked Malinga through cover for his third four in the 17th over. In the next over, he took Dilhara Fernando for four fours, the last of which was upper cut straight to third man, where Malinga was standing too far in to catch it. Sri Lanka's slackening discipline was epitomised in the next over when Malinga over-stepped, and when Tillakaratne Dilshan dropped an inconsequential catch off the free-hit, conceding an extra run. Worse was to follow, when Prasanna dropped Hafeez again in the covers. Pakistan underlined their dominance with each opener slugging a six against the spinners, but the tide was about to turn dramatically.

Hafeez perished attempting a tired pull against Prasanna's topspinner, and Farhat followed soon after, holing out to long-on. Abdul Razzaq was sent in to accelerate at No. 3, but Dilshan wisely hid the faster bowlers when he was around. Razzaq duly succumbed to the lack of pace, hauling Prasanna straight to long-on. When Umar Akmal walked too far past a Malinga yorker to lose leg stump, Pakistan found themselves in an extraordinary rut; the batting Powerplay had just come on, and they had their two most obdurate batsmen - Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan - fresh at the crease.

The restrictions did more bad than good, yielding 22 runs and Misbah's wicket to a tragi-comic run out. Younis was the culprit, but to his credit, he shepherded Pakistan through the end overs. His role became key after Afridi was handcuffed by the quicks for a run-a-ball 15. Pakistan found some release towards the end, with Younis and Sohail Tanvir picking up a brace of streaky fours, each. Still, Sri Lanka were the team more pleased with the course the innings had taken.