Sri Lanka 248 for 8 (Mathews 80*, Chandimal 54*, Tanvir 3-42) beat Pakistan 247 for 7 (Farhat 56, Akmal 55*, Mendis 2-30) by two wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Angelo Mathews and Nuwan Kulasekara celebrate victory after a thrilling finish © AFP
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Features : Tanvir thrills and spills
Matches: Sri Lanka v Pakistan at Colombo (RPS)
Series/Tournaments: Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka
Teams: Pakistan | Sri Lanka
Pakistan's journey to defeat in the final game that decided the series was an emotional ride, which had several moments of satisfaction and relief, but ultimately ended in frustration and regret. The satisfaction was because of a significantly improved batting performance that cast aside memories of a dispiriting collapse in the previous ODI; they experienced relief after wriggling out of difficult situations they'd created; the brief but costly spells of wayward bowling was a source of frustration; but the emotion that will linger will be the regret of an insipid fielding display that undermined each forward step. Amid all this, Angelo Mathews was a figure of calm and assuredness and, not for the first time, he rescued Sri Lanka from trouble and fashioned a thrilling victory with the tail.
Not quite the "tail", since Sri Lanka's No. 9 - Jeevan Mendis - has nine first-class hundreds. Nuwan Kulasekara did his bit too, but Mathews' presence was the key. With his team on 138 for 6 in the 35th over, Pakistan were favourites. Mathews didn't flinch; he was selective in the balls he picked to dispatch, displayed confidence in his lower-order team-mates, indulged in a lot of touch-play and placement to work the gaps, all the while reminding his opponents that his was the decisive wicket.
Those reminders weren't enough to prevent Pakistan from letting their guard down. Outfielders failed to prevent twos that should have been ones, and those inside the circle failed to run the batsmen out at least three times by not hitting their targets as the chase approached a thrilling end.
With 12 needed off five balls, Mohammad Sami - replacing the "rested" Saeed Ajmal - bowled a juicy length ball that Mathews launched over long-on. Another poor throw and two runs later, with four needed off three, Mathews cracked a short ball over point to seal the win.
There had been several mini-conferences between overs, parallel discussions between fielders, all summing up Pakistan's struggle to close the lid despite climbing to positions of advantage. The run-outs of Thisara Perera and Lahiru Thirimanne deprived Mathews of two capable partners, but Pakistan were in for a surprise soon when Mathews ceded floor to Mendis, who kickstarted the counterattack.
Just when the required-rate had gone past nine an over in the 44th, Mendis smashed Sohail Tanvir's slower ball for six over midwicket before driving and glancing Umar Gul for two boundaries. Tanvir eventually got rid of Mendis, but Kulasekara hung on, even collecting a fortuitous boundary past third man off Sami.
Sri Lanka v Pakistan, 5th ODI, Colombo: Angelo Mathews gem seals series for Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka v Pakistan, 5th ODI, Colombo Report | Cricket News | ESPN Cricinfo
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Angelo Mathews and Nuwan Kulasekara celebrate victory after a thrilling finish © AFP
Enlarge
Related Links
Features : Tanvir thrills and spills
Matches: Sri Lanka v Pakistan at Colombo (RPS)
Series/Tournaments: Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka
Teams: Pakistan | Sri Lanka
Pakistan's journey to defeat in the final game that decided the series was an emotional ride, which had several moments of satisfaction and relief, but ultimately ended in frustration and regret. The satisfaction was because of a significantly improved batting performance that cast aside memories of a dispiriting collapse in the previous ODI; they experienced relief after wriggling out of difficult situations they'd created; the brief but costly spells of wayward bowling was a source of frustration; but the emotion that will linger will be the regret of an insipid fielding display that undermined each forward step. Amid all this, Angelo Mathews was a figure of calm and assuredness and, not for the first time, he rescued Sri Lanka from trouble and fashioned a thrilling victory with the tail.
Not quite the "tail", since Sri Lanka's No. 9 - Jeevan Mendis - has nine first-class hundreds. Nuwan Kulasekara did his bit too, but Mathews' presence was the key. With his team on 138 for 6 in the 35th over, Pakistan were favourites. Mathews didn't flinch; he was selective in the balls he picked to dispatch, displayed confidence in his lower-order team-mates, indulged in a lot of touch-play and placement to work the gaps, all the while reminding his opponents that his was the decisive wicket.
Those reminders weren't enough to prevent Pakistan from letting their guard down. Outfielders failed to prevent twos that should have been ones, and those inside the circle failed to run the batsmen out at least three times by not hitting their targets as the chase approached a thrilling end.
With 12 needed off five balls, Mohammad Sami - replacing the "rested" Saeed Ajmal - bowled a juicy length ball that Mathews launched over long-on. Another poor throw and two runs later, with four needed off three, Mathews cracked a short ball over point to seal the win.
There had been several mini-conferences between overs, parallel discussions between fielders, all summing up Pakistan's struggle to close the lid despite climbing to positions of advantage. The run-outs of Thisara Perera and Lahiru Thirimanne deprived Mathews of two capable partners, but Pakistan were in for a surprise soon when Mathews ceded floor to Mendis, who kickstarted the counterattack.
Just when the required-rate had gone past nine an over in the 44th, Mendis smashed Sohail Tanvir's slower ball for six over midwicket before driving and glancing Umar Gul for two boundaries. Tanvir eventually got rid of Mendis, but Kulasekara hung on, even collecting a fortuitous boundary past third man off Sami.
Sri Lanka v Pakistan, 5th ODI, Colombo: Angelo Mathews gem seals series for Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka v Pakistan, 5th ODI, Colombo Report | Cricket News | ESPN Cricinfo
