Presented below is a brief review of the ODI series:

First One day - Premadasa International Stadium Colombo – March 17, 2006

The first one day international between Sri Lanka and Pakistan was washed out after heavy down pour mid way through the encounter. Earlier Sri Lankan all rounder Farveez Maharoof (3/24) and leg spinner Kaushal Lokuarchchi (3/47) claimed three wickets each to restrict Pakistan to a modest score of 201 for 8 in 50 overs. Mohammad Yousuf's 46 was the top score followed by Younis Khan (41) and Abdul Razzaq (32) Marvan Atapatu won the toss and took a bold decision to bowl first on a two paced pitch at Premadasa International stadium. Immediately after the Pakistan innings rain started the out field was soon covered with water but and due to continued rain no further play was possible.

2nd Match – Premadasa International Stadium, Colombo - March 19, 2006

Pakistan took an unbeatable 1-0 lead in the three match series as they earned hard fought 4 Wicket victory. Man of the match all rounder Abdul Razzaq took first two wickets for 19 runs and later scored invaluable unbeaten 41 to chiefly contribute in the match. Earlier at one stage Srilanka were reduced to 56-7 by the 21st over but subsequently Tittlekeratne Dilshan (48 Not Out) played yet another fighting knock which lifted Srilanka to a score of some respectability. Naved-ul-Hasan led Pakistan attack with 3 for 13, Iftikhar Anjum claimed 2 for 13 and Shahid Afridi accounted for 2 for 28. Sri Lanka scored 130 in 44.2 Overs. On their turn Pakistan threw away early wickets and were slid down to 6 for 82 but there after Abdul Razzaq (41 Not Out) and Kamran Akmal (20 Not Out) steadied the ship and steered the visitors to a convincing victory. Due to absence of Marvan Atapatu Mahela Jyawardene led Sri Lanka.

3rd Match – Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo - March 22, 2006

Sri Lanka, who were put into bat scored a modest total of 224 in 49.4 overs. Except for 18 year old Kapugedera, a make shift opener (50) Mahela Jayawardene (31) and Tillekerantne Dilshan (44) no other Sri Lankan batsman coped with the Pakistan attack successfully. Man of the Match leg spinning all rounder Shahid Afridi claimed 3–37 from 10 overs. Naved-ul-Hasan polished off the tail with two wickets and Mohammad Asif, Abdul Razzaq, and Shoib Malik also shared for one wicket each. On their turn Shoaib Malik (46) and Imran Farhat (46) gave Pakistan a flying start, particularly the former was more severe to blast 46 off 38 balls hitting 9 boundaries. Mohammad Yousuf (53) top scored and Younis Khan scored 25. Home team's ace spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was their only hope yet on this occasion he was unusually expensive though claimed 3 for 58. Pakistan easily achieved the target in 45.2 overs and won the match by 4 wickets. Shahid Afridi was adjudged as man of the match Abdul Razzaq for his out standing performance in the series was declared as player of the series.

(Article: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only.
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