Date-stamped : 20 Sep95 - 14:24 Pakistan v Sri Lanka, TEST 2 Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 September 1995 ====> Day 1, more Pakistan 43 for 1 at close. Consistent left-hander Hashan Tillekeratne scored a meritorious 115 when Sri Lanka were plunging headlong towards disaster and saw Sri Lanka reach 223 runs on the opening day of the second cricket Test against Pakistan at the Iqbal Stadium here in Faisalabad. Tillekeratne took strike in the 15th over when Sri Lanka were just about to put on show one of their worst batting displays in recent times, with the cream of the batting in the pavilion (4 for 33) and humilation stairing them. Tillekeratne`s enormous resolve and concentration helped them to reach a moderate 223 in which his contribution was more than half of the final Sri Lanka total. On his way he was also engaged in a record 8th wicket stand of 64 runs with Chaminda Vaas who ren- dered valuable support. The pair renewed the 1981-82 stand of D.S.de Silva`s and Ranjan Madugalle`s 61 for the 8th- wicket against Pakistan. Sri Lanka got off to a horrid start when Ramiz Raja won the toss and asked Sri Lanka to bat. Mahanama shouldering arms without offering a stroke was adjudged lbw to the fifth ball which cut back sharply in the first over of the day. Mohammed Akram from Rawalpindi who also plays second XI for Gloucestershire made his Test debut as Waqar Younis was un- fit. Though the wicket was helpful neither Wasim Akram nor Mohammed were able to generate much pace. The pair concentrated more on line and length. Gurusinha coming in as a virtual opener together with Hathurusinghe batted sensibly to take the score up to 32 in 145 overs. When the pair was just about to settle down Gurusinha pulled one from outside the off stump straight into the hands of Wasim Akram off Aquib Javed after scoring 9 runs and being at the wicket for almost an hour. But the real drama was to follow. Hathurusinghe who had the luck of being dropped by Aamir Sohail in the slips off Wasim Akram when he had scored only a single was at the non-strikers end when Sri Lanka`s most experienced batsmen skipper Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva after a successful stint in England played two of the most erratic shots seen from them when their services were required most. Both were out in successive deliveries putting Test newcomer Saqlain Mushtaq on a way to a hat-trick. Tillekeratne coming in next prevented him from doing so. Aravinda de Silva who hardly had two days practice on Pakistan soil, without studying the behaviour of the wicket and neither the bowler he had never seen or faced before came out of his crease to drive checked his shot at the last moment and gave a simple return catch before he could open his account. Ranatunga followed de Silva in the next ball trying to sweep the off spinner and playing accross the line got a touch and was out caught bat and pad by Ijaz Ahamed at forward short leg. How- ever both Ranatunga and de Silva hesistated to walk out but Pakistani umpire Kezer gave them the marching orders. Tillekeratne thereafter began his rescue operation first ad- ding 84 runs with Hathurusinghe in 70 minutes and the pair posted the Sri Lankan 100 in 35.3 overs utilising 166 minutes. Hathurusinghe just short of three runs for his half century lost concentration and flicked one to mid wicket to give Test debutant Mohammed Akram his first Test wicket. Tillekeratne provided the backbone of the Sri Lankan innings and batted with supreme confidence against pace and spin. He really got on to his stride after the lunch interval where he was unbeaten 31. He hit Saqlain Mushtaq for three consecutive fours in one over and quickly raised towards his 50 which had 11 fours facing 78 balls and spending 96 minutes at the wicket. When Tillekeratne`s superlative innings finally came to an end with the scoreboard reading 223 he had hit 24 fours and faced 175 balls in a 226 minute stay at the wicket. Pakistan who had to face 18 overs in their first innings lost Aamir Sohail when he was beaten and bowled by Muralitharan for 20 and night watchman - Saqlain Mushtaq joined by Saeed Anwer saw the remaining oves through to be 43 for 1 at stumps. Sri lanka made two changes in the team bringing in Kumara Dharmasena for P. Ravindra Pushpakumara and Aravinda de Silva coming in for Sanjeeva Ranatunga. Source :: The Daily News (http://www.lanka.net/lakehouse/) Contributed by Sudas (swanniar@ccshst01.cs.uoguelph.ca) ====> Day 1, more Tillekaratne in lone act of defiance - Qamar Ahmed First day of five: Pakistan (43-1) trail Sri Lanka (223) by 180 runs SRI LANKA, tottering at 33 for four, recovered to make 223 with the help of an unblemished 115 from left-hander Hashan Til- lekaratne on the first day of the second Test at the Iqbal Stadi- um. In reply, Pakistan had made 43 for the loss of one wicket. Having entered at the fall of the fourth wicket, Tillekaratne, displaying tremendous concentration, stayed at the wicket for 226 minutes and carved 20 fours off the Pakistan bowlers, including the ever-dangerous Wasim Akram, who finished with two for 31. Tillekaratne put on 84 runs for the fifth wicket, with Chandika Hathurusinghe, and, with Chaminda Vaas, a record against Pakistan of 64 runs for the eighth wicket. Having included Aravinda de Silva and Kumara Dharmasena in the team, Sri Lanka, after being put in, were hoping to make a respectable score on a wicket which seemed tailor-made for bat- ting. Instead, they lost opener Roshan Mahanama in the fifth ball of the first over to Wasim Akram, who also dismissed Asanka Gurusinha with the score at 32. Off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, bowling his first spell, then dismissed de Silva and Arjuna Rana- tunga, the captain, with successive deliveries to reduce Sri Lan- ka to 33 for four. Tillekaratne avoided the hat-trick. De Silva, driving uppishly, was caught by the bowler and Ranatun- ga swept too early to be caught off bat and pad. From 86 for four at lunch, Tillekaratne, along with Hathurusinghe, took their score to 117 before another wicket fell. Mohammad Akram deceived Hathurusinghe with a change of pace to pick up his first Test wicket. Eventually, Tillekaratne was the ninth man out, having reached his third Test century in his 32nd Test match. Saqlain had him caught at the wicket to finish with three for 74. Aqib Javed, with three for 34, was just as instrumental in Sri Lanka`s demise. Facing 18 overs before the close, Pakistan lost Aamir Sohail at 42 when Muttiah Muralitharan deceived him in the air. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com) ====> Day 2, 16 Sep 95 Sri Lanka in great fightback Sri Lanka staged a fine fightback to restrict Pakistan to 294 for 8 wickets at the end of the second day`s play in the Second Test at the Iqbal Stadium here in Faisalabad. Sri Lanka were all out 223. Part-time bowler Asanka Gurusinghe provided the shocks for the Pakistanis when he claimed two vital wickets in his fourth over, taking the wickets of dangermen Inzamam-Ul-Haq and Wasim Akram in the first and fifth balls which saw Pakistan slide from 248 for 5 wickets to 294 for 8. Pramodya Wickremasinghe claimd his first wicket in the series when he had Ijaz Ahmed caught behind and then Gurusinha bowled a short pitch rising delivery which Inzamam played while look- ing and Wasim Akram was caught in the slips by Mahanama before he could settle down. Inzamam-ul-Haq had 6 boundaries and faced 107 deliveries in his 158 minute stay at the wicket for his 56. Saeed Anwer the opener and `night watchman` Saqlain Mushtaq, the overnight unbeaten batsmen on 21 and nought respectively pro- vided the backbone of the Pakistan innings. The 19 year-old Saqlain Mushtaq besides his off spin bowling, denied his status as a tail-end `rabbit with a stubborn innings of 34. Saqlain Mushtaq playing a very effective supportive role, thwarted the Sri Lankan attack, and along with the more recognised Saeed Anwer added 67 runs in 107 minutes for the second wicket off 20 overs. Saeed Anwer was the first to go in the morning when he drove one to mid-wicket for Aravinda de Silva to take the catch off Muralitharan to give him second wicket in the match. Saqlain Mushtaq continued his dominance over the Lankan bowlers. Though his innings was not so enterprising, his asso- ciation with Ramiz Raja for the third wicket realised 59 runs for the third wicket in 126 minutes. Ramiz Raja took control of the situation and went on to regis- ter his second three-quarter of a century (75) with a 168 minutes stay at the wicket and clubbed 11 fours facing 139 deliveries. Ramiz`s 50 came off 99 balls with the help of 8 boundaries. Muralitharan, the chief wicket-taker in the Pakistan innings, had to leave the field due to a knee injury after bowling 17.3 overs just before the tea interval and Aravinda de Silva had to complete the remaining deliveries. The Lankan attack looked depleted at this point, but Chandika Hathurusinghe and Aravinda de Silva did well to contain the Pakistanis when they were 192 for 3 at tea, adding only 119 runs off 57 overs in 240 minutes. Ramiz Raja who was unbeaten on 62 at the tea interval, could not make much headway when he was caught at forward short leg by substitute Samaraweera off Ara- vinda for 75. With Ijaz Ahmed fighting hard to find his form and Shoaib Mohammed run out for 16, Inzamam was on his way for a big score. But Gurusinha`s destructive spell brought Sri Lanka back into the game. At the end of the day, Gurusinha had the fine figures of 2 for 15 in 5 overs. Moin Khan and Aquib Javed remained unbeaten when stumps were drawn. Source :: Sunday Observer (http://www.lanka.net/lakehouse/) Contributed by Sudas (swanniar@uoguelph.ca) ====> Day 2, more Malik`s career hits new low - Qamar Ahmed Second day of five: Pakistan (294-8) lead Sri Lanka (223) by 71 runs AFTER being ignored for the current Test series against Sri Lanka because of bribery allegations made by the Australians Tim May and Shane Warne, the career of the former Pakistan captain Salim Malik has sunk further. Last week Malik applied to the High Court in Lahore to ask the Pakistan board to consider him for selection for the second Test being played at Faisalabad and the remaining game, but the court ruled that his petition would be heard on Sept 28 - after the series has ended. Malik`s reluctance to take legal action against his Australian accusers does not help his case either. The Pakistan board have also ignored him because of selfish play and indiscipline on the tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe earlier this year. His replacement, Ijaz Ahmed Junior, was out cheaply in the first Test and his 16 runs in Pakistan`s 294 for eight on the second day here in reply to 223 by Sri Lanka in the first innings was not encouraging either. Ramiz Raja, who made 75 with 11 fours, shared stands of 59 and 46 for the third and fourth wicket with Saqlain Mushtaq, the nightwatchman, and Inzaman-ul-Haq, who, in his half-century, hit six fours before playing on. Earlier in the day Saeed Anwar made 54 to add 67 for the second wicket with Saqlain, who made 34 and batted for nearly four hours. After the new ball was taken at 275, Pakistan lost three wickets for three runs, but at the close led by 71 runs at 294 for eight. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com) ====> Day 3, 17 Sep 95 Sri Lanka capitalise on injury - Qamar Ahmed Third day of five: Sri Lanka (223 & 174-2) lead Pakistan (333) by 64 runs PAKISTAN fast bowler Wasim Akram may not take any further part in the current Wills Test series against Sri Lanka after damaging his shoulder during the second Test at the Iqbal Stadium. The rigours of county cricket and the absence from the Pakistan pace attack of Waqar Younis has taken its toll and Wasim has been advised to rest. On the morning of the third day, he complained of pain in the joint of his bowling arm which was later found out to be a locked shoulder joint. "The movement of my bowling arm is restricted and it is very painful," said Wasim. Taking full advantage of his absence from the Pakistan attack, Sri Lanka, who had conceded a first-innings lead of 110, fought back admirably to finish the third day`s play on 174 for the loss of two wickets. Their fightback was prompted by a record unfinished third-wicket partnership of 150 between Arvinda De Silva and Chandika Hathurusinghe. The previous best for the third wicket against Pakistan for Sri Lanka was 85 between Siddath Wettimuny and Roy Dias in 1985-86 on the same ground. The two had come together after Pakistan`s first innings had end- ed within 50 minutes of play at 333 and Sri Lanka had lost two wickets, that of Roshan Mahanama and Asanka Gurusinha with only 24 runs on the board. From 32 for two at lunch they took their score to 101 at tea. After the interval De Silva reached his half century with six fours and in the process also passed the 3,000-run landmark in his 49th Test. Hathurusinghe also reached his 50 minutes later to get to his 1,000 in Tests. Earlier during the day, Gurusinha also completed 2,000 runs in his 35th Test. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@*ogi.edu) ====> Day 3, more Aravinda and Chandika help Sri Lanka gain 64 run lead. By Ranjan Anandappa An unbroken second wicket stand of 150 runs between Aravinda de Silva (78 n.o.) and Chandika Hathurasinghe (67 n.o.) saw Sri Lan- ka gain a 64 run lead with 8 wickets intact after ending the day at 174 for 2 after dismissing Pakistan for 333 in their first in- nings on the third day of the second Test. When Sri Lanka dismissed Pakistan for 333 in reply to their 223, the host team had obtained a substantial 110 run lead. Resuming from their overnight score of 294 for 8 overnight unbeaten bats- men Moin Khan and Aquib Javed added an invaluable 33 runs for the 8th wicket. Moin Khan the wicket-keeper did the major share of scoring, hit- ting 30 off 42 balls with four boundaries, before he was stumped by Dunusinghe off Muralitharan. Aquib Javed was bowled by Murali- tharan to give him his fifth wicket in the innings. SECOND TIME The Sri Lankan openers going in for the second time with a heavy load on their shoulders once again failed to produce the much needed good start. Mahanama was out lbw for the third time in the series this time trapped by debutant Mohamad Akram with just 11 runs on the board. The Pakistanis took the field in Sri Lanka`s second innngs minus their main strike bowler Wasim Akram. According to his physio Akram will not take any further part in the match and will also miss the final test too, due to a "frozen" shoulder. AKRAM OUT It was quite apparent that the Pakistan attack sans Wasim Akram is depleted. Gurusinha was also ajudged lbw to Javed for 12 and Sri Lanka was once again in the dumps with 2 for 24 only in the 10th over of their innings. To get back into the match Sri Lanka needed someone to make a big score. Hathurusinghe and Aravinda answered the call superbly. Both began their innings on uncertain notes but with the Pakistan bowlers losing their sting the pair grew in confidence. The only moment that the Sri Lankan batsmen looked uncomfortable was during the post lunch session when left arm spinner Aamir Sohail and off spinner Saqlain Mushtaq tied down the batsmen. But Aravinda and Hathurusinghe batting with assurance sys- tamatically dismantled the Pakistan attack. TWO SESSIONS The 150-run stand between the pair came in 264 minutes and for more than two sessions they defied the Pakistani attack. Hathurusinghe who took 42 minutes to get off the mark scored his third consecutive 50 in the test series off 176 ballls with 9 fours spending 276 minutes at the wicket. Hathurusinghe by scoring his 40th run in the match passed 1000 runs in Tests while Gurusinha topped the 2000 run mark and Aravinda de Sil- va after scoring his first 35 runs completed 3000 runs in test cricket. Aravinda de Silva`s 78 had 9 boundaries and he was at the wick- et for 264 minutes and faced 224 deliveries. And the third wicket stand of 100 between De Silva and Hathurusinghe also surpassed the 88 run stand between Sidath Wettimuny and Roy Dias at the same venue ten years ago. Source :: The Daily News (http://www.lanka.net/lakehouse/) Contributed by The Management (help@*ogi.edu) ====> Day 4, 18 Sep 95 Sri Lanka fight back through de Silva - Qamar Ahmed Fourth day of five: Sri Lanka (223 & 361) lead Pakistan (333 & 58-2) by 193 runs ARAVINDA de Silva, the Kent batsman who arrived to reinforce Sri Lanka`s touring party last week, gave his side a chance of win- ning the second Wills Test when he completed a century against Pakistan here yesterday. De Silva, on 78 overnight, batted serenely while going on to score 105, putting on a record 176 for the third wicket with Chandika Hathurusinghe as Sri Lanka made 361, their highest second-innings score against Pakistan. Victory would square the three-match series and complete a remarkable come-back for the Sri Lankans, who lost the first Test by an innings and 40 runs. Set a challenging target of 252 to win, Pakistan made a nervous start and by the end of the fourth day`s play in the Iqbal Stadi- um they were 58 for two. Pakistan lost opener Aamir Sohail for nought and then their cap- tain, Ramiz Raja, for 25 in the last over of the day. Wasim Akram, who has injured a shoulder, will bat only in desperate circumstances. With the game delicately poised, the outcome will depend chiefly on how well a rather unpredictable Pakistan batting line-up is able to stand up to pressure on the final day, and how success- fully the two Sri Lankan spinners, Kumara Dharmasena and Muttiah Muralitharan, exploit a deteriorating pitch. After the fall of the first wicket at six, Ramiz and Saeed Anwar, who had reached 1,000 runs in Test matches, batted cautiously to add 52 for the second wicket. But minutes before the close their partnership was broken by Muralitharan, a wicket which tilted the blalance slightly in favour of the tourists. Pakistan still require 194 runs to win and they have a job on their hands. Sri Lanka would not be likely to let the opportunity slip if they could make an early breakthrough on the final day. Earlier Pakistan`s Aqib Javed had taken five wickets in an in- nings for the first time, finishing with figures of five for 84. He ended the prolific partnership for Sri Lanka`s third wicket, having Hathurusinghe caught at second slip for 83, his highest score in Test cricket. De Silva went on to reach his eighth Test century and his fourth against Pakistan, after 352 minutes at the crease and 11 fours. He was still there at lunch with Sri Lanka on 233 for five, but fell leg before to off-spinner Saqlian Mushtaq just seven runs later. Dharmasena and Chaminda Vaas added a record 67 runs for the eighth wicket to make the lead a substantial one, as Pakistan, without Wasim, struggled in temperatures of over 100F to bowl Sri Lanka out. Vaas made 40, with seven fours, and Dharmasena 49, finding the boundary on six occasions to frustrate the Pakis- tanis. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@*ogi.edu) ====> Day 4, more ARAVINDA`S CENTURY A BIG BOOST - Ranjan Anandappa The Second Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka is delicately placed. Needing 252 to win Pakistan were 58 for 2 at the end of the fourth day`s play at the Iqbal Stadium at Faisalabad. They still need 194 to win with 8 wickets in hand. Sri Lanka after being all out for 361 in their second innings resuming 174 for 2 overnight set Pakistan a victory target of 252 with a day (today) and 21 overs that was bowled yesterday. Vaas struck early for Sri Lanka when he trapped opener Aamir Sohail lbw with the second ball of his first over before scoring and Muralitheran had Ramiz Raja caught bat and pad by Tillek- eratne in the penultimate over of the day for 25. Ramiz Raja had a lucky escape earlier when he was dropped by Pramodya Wickremasinghe at midon when he had scored 16. There were also two milestones achieved in Sri Lanka cricket. On Saturday Muthiah Muralitheran became the highest test wick- et taker for Sri Lanka 73 wickets beating Rumesh Ratnayaka`s 71 off 26 tests. He took 5 wickets in the first innings. The 68 runs partnership between Vaas and Dharmasena for the 8th wicket is a new mark. Earlier R. Madugalla and D. S. de Silva added 61 for the 8th wicket in 1982 at Faisalabad. Pakistan straight away took the newball in the morning when Sri Lanka resumed their innings at 174 for 2 with Aravinda de Silva unbeaten on 78 and Hathurusinghe not out 67. In 55 minutes of batting in the morning Hathurusinghe did most of the scoring while Aravinda added only 6 runs to his overnight score of 78. Hathurusinghe missed his maiden test century when he was caught in the slips going for a cover drive for 83 and the stand between Aravinda and Hathurusinghe ended after a worthy 176 runs. Hathurusinghe`s defiant innings had 10 boundaries and he faced 265 deliveries in a stay of 368 minutes at the crease. But thereafter Sri Lanka`s batting collapsed with Tillekeratne promoted in the batting order ahead of Arjuna Ranatunga and Ranatunga himself and thereafter Aravinda. 3 wickets fell for 40 runs. Tillekeratne the first innings centurion (115) was given out leg before wicket by Pakistani umpire Keyzer Hayatholy after a demading appeal by Aquib Javed and skipper Ranatunga coming in next who looked quite not himself after scoring a `duck` in the first innings and on a pair played extremely cau- siously. However he scrmbbled through for a couple off Aamir Sohail and the very next ball Ranatunga played an impatient looking shot uppishly back to the bowler and was gone. Sri Lanka were 225 for 5 and with the defecit of 110 they were only 115 runs ahead. But with Aravinda de Silva still at the crease the Lankans had some hopes of a substantial lead to give their bowlers a reasonable target to bowl at. De Silva batted with great discipline and restraint. Though the trap was laid for De Silva`s hook which he relishes to play he re- frained from hooking. He reached his 8th test century and the fourth against Pakistan and the second at Faisalabad off 294 deliveries, 352 minutes and with only 11 boundaries. With De Silva`s dismissal who was the fourth leg before victim to a ball which kept low off Saqlain Mustaq, Sri Lanka`s chances of a challenging target seemed slim. Dharmasena, Vaas and Dunusinghe gave the tail a little flour- ish. Dharmasena along with his former schoolmate Dunusinghe ad- ded a useful 39 runs for the seventh wicket in 70 minutes with Dunusinghe`s contribution being 27 with four boundaries off 47 balls. Dunusinghe was out to an uncharacteristic shot play- ing on the on side and giving a catch to cover point. Besides the third wicket stand between Hathurusinghe and Ara- vinda the other lucrative stand was between Dharmasena and Vaas. Dharmasena although dropped twice, once by skipper Ramiz Raja and substitute Yousuf took full advantage adding 68 runs with Vaas. The 8th wicket pair took the score from 278 for 7 to 346 for 8 before Vaas was beaten and bowled by hard working Aquib Javed to have his 4th wicket after a marathon spell of 30 overs for a paceman. Vaas`s 40 runs was made only off 51 deliveries and hit Aamir Sohail for three consecutive fours in one over and had altogether 7 boundaries in his entertaining innings. Dharmasena was unlucky to miss a well deserved half century falling short by one run. Source :: The Daily News (http://www.lanka.net/lakehouse/) Contributed by Sudas (swanniar@ccshst01.cs.uoguelph.ca) ====> Day 5, 19 Sep 95 SRI LANKA WINS BY 42 RUNS PAKISTAN BEATEN AT HOME, SERIES SQUARED Sri Lanka cricket reached new dimensions when they beat Pakis- tan by 42 runs for the first time on their soil to square the three-test series at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. The Sri Lankans earlier beat New Zealand in New Zealand to record their first ever overseas win but the win against Pak- istan yesterday is undoubtedly more significant as Sri Lanka has shown that they have come of age from mediocrity to front rank with their fine per- formance. Sri Lanka lost the first test by an innings and 40 runs at Peshawar a week ago. The match was filled with plenty of twists and turns prior to achieving victory at twenty past three p.m. when test debutant Muhammed Akram edged one to Mahanama in the slips off Dhar- masena. Overnight Sri Lanka scord 223 in their first innings and 361 in their second innings, while Pakistan hit 333 in their first innings. This left Pakistan to get 252 to win with ample time to get it. They were 58 for 2 wickets off 20.3 overs losing the vital wick- ets of opener Aamir Sohail (o), and Ramiz Raja (25) overnight. Pakistan began their run chase which was reduced to 194 with 8 wickets intact after their 58 runs scored overnight. The Sri Lankan bowlers stuck to their job admirably right from the begin- ning. After Vaas and Muralitheran began the proceedings without much success with Anwer having some anxious moments with some edgy shots through the slips, Kumar Dharmasena opned the gates for Sri Lanka sending Saeed Anwer back with a peach of delivery when he had precise- ly reached his 50 which had come off 117 balls with 5 fours. Moin Khan the Pakistan wicket keeper who had the good fortune skying one which fell short of Arjuna Ranatunga`s reach gave some hopes to the Pakistanis by reaching his 50. Moin had a cou- ple of es- capes, and the greatest escape was when he glided one to deep third man and substitute fielder Jayasuriya in a breathtaking run through the ball back to Dharmasena all in one motion which the bowler had to only take the bail off but Dhar- masena dropped the ball. EXCELLENT Muralitheran finally brought off an excellent catch in the covers to dismiss Moin Khan who had done a fine job for Pakistan facing 90 balls for his 50 with 5 boundaries. The last three Pakistan wickets fell for 3 runs to give Sri Lanka this stunning win. Chaminda Vaas took 4 for 45 in the second in- nings and Muralitheran`s match haul of 7 wickets in the match gave him the man of the match award. After the match when interviewed Dulip Mendis the Sri Lankan manager said that the win was a great one and all credit should go to Arjuna and Dave Whatmore who have been behind the team`s success. ``It was a great win specially after the innings defeat in the first test. It was the tonic that the boys needed, and beating Pak- istan on their own soil is a dream come true,`` said jubi- lant Mendis. He also made special mention of Hashan Tillekeratne who made 115 in the first innings and Aravinda de Silva`s 105 in the second innings when the chips were really down. RELAXED Arjuna who was in a relaxed mood said that it was a great team effort as everybody played their part as one unit. When asked whether he thought that the game would slip away from the Lankans at any stage. Arjuna said that he had full confidence in his front line bowlers. ``I knew that it was the beginning of the end once Inzamam got out in the morning,`` concluded Ranatunga. Source :: The Daily News (http://www.lanka.net/lakehouse/) Contributed by Sudas (swanniar@ccshst01.cs.uoguelph.ca) ====> Day 5, more Spinners gain Sri Lanka win to level series - Qamar Ahmed SRI LANKA beat Pakistan by 42 runs in the second Test to level the three-match series, their first win against Pakistan in Pak- istan and only their second overseas triumph. Victory was achieved 25 minutes after tea on the final day when Pakistan, needing 252 runs to win, were bowled out for 209. The decisive third Test starts in Sialkot on Friday. The tourists took advantage of injuries to Pakistan bowlers Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis and withstood the pressure of a highly- charged final day to dismiss the home side for the second time in the match. Spinners Kumara Dharmasena and Muttiah Muralitharan bowled a tan- talising length to share five second-innings wickets. Muralitharan`s two for 83, and a total haul of seven for 151, earned him the man-of-the-match award. They were deftly supported by the left-arm medium pacer Chaminda Vaas who finished with four for 45. The visitors` fielding was also brilliant. Pakistan had resumed the final day`s play at 58 for two, requir- ing 194 runs to win. Their batting let them down and by lunch they were reduced to 120 for five. Saeed Anwar, who had reached his third successive fifty of the series, was bowled by Dharmasena having shared 41 with Inzamam- ul-Haq for the third wicket. Shoaib Mohammad and Inzamam had also departed by then. In the second session, the home side added 80 more runs losing two more wickets in the process. The promising Ijaz Ahmed junior disappointed his home crowd, mis-hooking Vaas to be caught at long leg for only seven. Wasim, who made 26, also fell after put- ting on 46 with Moin Khan, the other half-century maker. While the pair were together, there was hope that the home side could stage a recovery, but the departure of Moin was a critical blow. He had defied the Sri Lankan attack for 2.25 hours, hitting five fours in the process, before he was smartly caught by Mural- itharan at point from a delivery by Vaas that lifted rather shar- ply. His effort was in vain as Pakistan lost three wickets for three runs in 25 minutes after tea and Dharmasena claimed the final scalp of Mohammad Akram. "Our batting was disappointing in the second innings and we also missed the services of Wasim who could not bowl in the Sri Lankan second innings," said Ramiz Raja, the Pakistan captain. His side won the first Test, at Peshawar, by an innings and 40 runs. The visiting captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, was happier: "It`s good to be back in the series through a well-deserved victory. It was a total team effort and now we are looking forward to the final Test," he said. "We worked on a plan and we did pretty well," he added. Ranatun- ga, adding that after winning in New Zealand in March and with the victory here, "everyone has now realised we can win Test matches abroad." In the 16 Tests played between the two countries, Pakistan have won nine while Sri Lanka have won two, including the one here. Five have been drawn. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@*ogi.edu)