ICC World Twenty20 : Sri Lanka vs Pakistan

June 12, 2009

Pakistan captain Younus Khan challenged his side to win the World Twenty20 for their cricket-starved fans after they boooked their place in the second round here on Tuesday.

Victory over the Netherlands – who stunningly defeated England in the opening match of the tournament – by 82 runs at Lord’s saw Pakistan bounce back from their 48-run loss last weekend to the hosts at the Oval.

Pakistan have the best record in T20 Internationals, winning 14 out of 18 matches. But they haven’t played like a team that has won most T20 games.

Sanath Jayasuriya will hold the key to the fortunes of the Lankans, as he so often does in any game. But Kumar Sangakkara’s boys aren’t just dependent on the soon to be 40-year-old.

Tillakaratne Dilshan has been as consistent as Pakistan’s inconsistency. Sangakkara himself has developed into a class T20 player, while Mahela Jayawardene is one of the best finishers in this format.

Sri Lanka: (probable) 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk, capt), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Jehan Mubarak, 6 Chamara Silva, 7 Angelo Mathews, 8 Isuru Udana, 9 Ajantha Mendis, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan

Pakistan: (probable) 1 Ahmed Shehzad, 2 Kamran Akmal (wk), 3 Shoaib Malik, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq, 5 Younis Khan (capt), 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Fawad Alam, 8 Sohail Tanvir, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Mohammad Aamer, 11 Saeed Ajmal