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Pakistan were strongly placed at 166-2 in the 38th over before they collapsed to 199 all out and lost their last eight wickets for just 33 runs, with six batsmen went for duck in the innings.
Man of the match Perera finished with 4/42 with earning a hat-trick and troubled Pakistan batsmen again and take away match from their grip.
Opener Azhar Ali carried his bat through the innings with an unbeaten 81, hitting one six and four boundaries. He added 113 for the third wicket with skipper Misbah-ul-Haq (57). But irresponsible shot from Misbah changed the fortune of the game and gifted the match to Sri Lanka.
After departure of Misbah, no Pakistani batsmen played sensibly but thrown their wickets away and gifted the match to Sri Lanka. Reshuffle in batting order also caused stir among the players as after the ouster of Hafeez for a duck, Younus Khan should have to be sent at No. 3 but Asad Shafiq was made scapegoat and he again failed to deliver and after his ouster Misbah came to the crease and started playing 'Tuk Tuk'. He made 57 off 77 balls and brought team under pressure and after his departure the remaining batsmen succumbed to the pressure and were bowled out for 199 runs.
Pakistan have given a lot of chances to Umar Akmal but he failed to impressed with his batting despite having a lot of talent and now time is ripe he should be sidelined and any other batsmen should be given chance in his place.
Misbahul Haq should also announce retirement from the One-day cricket with dignity and vacant his place for youngsters sitting in line and waiting for their turn before it’s too late for him and he should be sacked by the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Perera again bowled well and took four vital wickets including a hat-trick in his spell and created trouble for Pakistan and take away match from the Pakistan grip. Sri Lanka is now one step away from winning the series 3-1 and if they lose the final match then the series will be drawn by 2-2 as third one day international was washed out due to rain.
Earlier, Sangakkara's was dropped by Umar Gul when his score was 35 also proved costly for Pakistan. Sangakkara went on to score 97 runs and added over 100 runs with skipper Jayawardene that also played a vital role in the Sri Lankan win.
In the end Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene shown his surprise over registering easy victory and said that he was expecting some fight from Pakistan but they given up and lose the match. He praised Sangakkara knock and Perera bowling that got four wickets in his last spell and enabled Sri Lanka to record an easy win.
It felt that there is some infighting going on among senior players for their vested interest and team is divided into various groups that is harming for Pakistani cricket.
Senior players those opposed Whatmore for becoming Pakistani head coach trying to defame him for their vested interests and also trying to regain players power that was dented by the former Pakistan Cricket Board chief Ijaz Butt.
Present chairman Zaka Ashraf who earlier desired to win the 2015 World Cup soon after assuming the Pakistan Cricket Board charge if wants to fulfil his dream of winning the mega event should have to curb players’ power that may spoil his dream of winning the mega event title.
It looked that series has gone out of Pakistan hands and now PCB should think about the Test series and if Pakistan failed in the Tests also then the team should be disbanded and contracts of the players should be terminated.
Pakistan should raise new team comprising new talent as there is no dearth of talent in the country and a bunch of around 40 to 50 youngsters should be handed to head coach Dav Whatmore as he has the ability and urge to do something for Pakistan. He will prepare teams for all formats of the game that would help a lot to fulfil PCB chief's Zaka Ashraf dream of winning the Cricket World Cup 2015.
