Sri Lanka have come up against Pakistan thrice before this in finals at Sharjah -- in 1989, 1990 and 1993 -- and ended up being the bridesmaid each and every time, never the bride. This time, they broke that jinx with a four-wicket win in the final of the Sharjah Cup; as has been the case right through this tournament, the man of the hour was the stocky 31-year-old Aravinda de Silva who played a more subdued knock this time. But he was still the mainstay of the innings and, appropriately, took two runs off the second ball of the last over to seal victory for his team.
De Silva came in at 35 for two and saw a potential crisis develop when a third wicket fell at 67. Had another one gone, then Pakistan may well have taken control. But de Silva was not about to let that happen; he and Ranatunge shared a partnership of 66 and then Mahanama and he added a further 60. De Silva ended with an unbeaten 87 and took the man of the match award -- his fourth -- and the man of the series award as well. There was nobody who came close to him as far as dominating this tournament was concerned; he scored 410 runs in the five matches which Lanka played and only once did he get out before reaching 50.
Pakistan's middle and lower order let them down, and badly too, after the first five had done a decent job by seeing the team to 185 for three by the time 43 overs had been completed. Rameez went cheaply but Sajid Ali stayed awhile and Ijaz did likewise. At 87 for three, Malik and Inzamam joined forces and with a bit of luck -- both had one chance apiece -- they took the score to 185 before a collapse saw the last seven wickets fall for just 29 runs in 6.1 overs. Had the Pakistani batsmen kept their heads, they could well have got around 30 runs more than the 214 which was their final tally; a good many wickets were lost to wild slog shots with Akram and Afridi, two men who have the capacity to score rapidly, being particularly at fault.
Sri Lanka, who looked to be somewhat out of the game, especially after the dropped chances, perked up considerably after Murali got Malik and Moin in the same over. From 185 for three to 187 for five was bad but worse followed; Afridi tried a cow shot and was bowled by Vaas soon after the skipper had played all over a Dharmasena delivery. Inzamam stayed there but then, realising that he would have to do the scoring if any was done, he kept picking the ones, saving the big hits for the end. But the wickets continued to tumble -- Waqar was taken by Aravinda off Vaas and Mahanama brought off an incredible catch to get rid of Saqlain. So it came down to Inzamam and Mushtaq with an over left and the latter on strike. The leg-spinner tried to take a single and give the big man the strike but he pushed too hard down the wicket and charged; Inzamam tried to lumber through but was run out with plenty to spare, Vaas picking up and hitting on his follow through.
There was hope that Pakistan would once again defend this total well; they had decided to bat first mainly because the team batting first had won five times out of six in this tournament. Only Lanka had won chasing -- against Zimbabwe in the opener. It looked like Lanka would be hard pressed to get to 215 when they lost Kaluwitharane in the second over and Jayasuriya soon after. Thirty-five for two became 67 for three in the 15th over when Atapattu, who was looking in good nick, was leg before to Mushtaq. But de Silva then took over and his influence lasted right through to the end. The next wicket fell 15 overs later. And the steady Mahanama did his bit by staying with de Silva until victory was in sight. Tillekeratne fell cheaply but de Silva did not panic and Dharmasena stayed with him until the final over when three runs were needed. That de Silva had just the three boundaries in his innings speaks of the restraint with which he played.
Batting right through this tournament has been a bit difficult, especially for the team chasing. De Silva's performance was thus all the more praiseworthy. Sharjah was once known as a batsman's paradise but in this tournament only once did a team cross 250. The wickets have become slower and this had been markedly noticeable over the last two years. Few matches were fought to the end and any excitement was largely artificial. There was just one thing to talk about -- de Silva's batting, especially his hundred. There was a sizeable crowd only for the final.
Apart from the awards earned by de Silva, Lanka had more to cheer about. Murali was chosen best bowler for the 13 wickets he took and Mahanama, with seven catches including that superb one in the final, was the best fielder. Afridi got an award for having scored the fastest fifty in Pakistan's first match. The next tournament will be held in December and England, India, Pakistan and the West Indies are expected to participate.