Pakistan look forward to bright future

Pakistan sounded a warning to their Asian neighbours when they defeated Sri Lanka by five wickets in Galle today to win the unofficial Test series one-nil. They came to Sri Lanka with an extremely young squad and have shown that they have plenty of talent waiting in the wings when the seniors start to fade.

Having saved the First Test Match in Dambulla by the skin of their teeth, Pakistan held the initiative throughout the last two games and, if the truth be told, fully deserve to win the series: their batsmen showed greater application, their fast bowlers were occasionally exceptional and, if this wasn't enough, they could count on the services of a fine wrist spinner.

They were always likely to win this match after Sri Lanka had collapsed to Danish Kaneria last evening. Sri Lanka's only hope was the overnight partnership between Thilan Samaraweera and Prasanna Jayawardene. They kept such hopes alive for 40 minutes this morning, extending the partnership to 46 runs, before a wonderful rocket like throw from the deep square boundary by Irfan Fazil ran out Jayawardene and opened the door for Pakistan.

They needed no second invitation to wrap up the innings. By the time that Jayawardene had removed his batting pads, Malinga Bandara, the next man in, was walking back to the dressing room having edged his first delivery straight to Hasan Raza at short gully.

Thilan Samaraweera, obviously worried that he was going to get stranded, following the example of Raza yesterday and tried to pick up some quick runs before the innings closed. Unfortunately, he made the fatal mistake of missing a straight ball from Yasir Arafat and was trapped leg-before wicket.

Dinusha Fernando rounded off the disappointment when he was run out by Irfan Fazil, as he tried to pinch the strike. Sri Lanka had lost their last four wickets for seven runs and Pakistan were required to score just 137 for victory.

Pakistan made heavy going of the target. Humayun Farhat, the wicket keeper, was promoted to open the innings, but he was trapped leg-before wicket in the first over. Tauquir Umar was also trapped leg-before, this time off Samaraweera, moments after the luncheon interval.

Hasan Raza, the mainstay of the Pakistan batting throughout the tour, then added 24 runs with Salman Butt, before the young left-hander pulled lamely to mid-wicket. When Raza was caught behind off Dinusha Fernando, Pakistan were 67 for four and Sri Lanka may have sensed an outside chance of victory.

Misbah ul-Haq (23), who had saved the day in Dambulla, came to the rescue again, this time with Faisal Naveed (42*). The pair added 55 runs for the fifth wicket, to finally drain the spirit from the Sri Lankan's. When Misbah was bowled with 15 runs still required, they had already given up and it was no surprise that the target was eventually reached courtesy of four sloppy overthrows.

Both coaches have maintained throughout this three-week tour that the end result was of secondary importance to the identification of new talent. By that measure too, Pakistan have gained the most from the tour. Three players in particular look like they can make the jump into the national team soon.

Hasan Raza, still only 19 years old if you believe the statistics, stands out as the one class batsman, having scored 321 runs at 64.2. Danish Kaneria is a leg spinner of great potential and claimed 21 wickets in the series; whilst Irfan Faizal's fast bowling was particularly impressive on this lifeless surface in Galle.

Sri Lanka meanwhile have discovered little, although they will take heart from the fact that the bowling academy appears to be bearing fruit, with a number of promising young fast bowlers now emerging.

Thilan Samaraweera distinguished himself with 21 wickets, Avishka Gunawardene stated a powerful case for a recall into the national squad, and the performance of Michael Vandort was encouraging, if not compelling, with the bat. Alas, the rest of the batting was hugely disappointing and, Samaraweera apart, no spinner grabbed the eye.

Food for though then for the Sri Lankan selectors, who picked an unwieldy 22 players for this three-match series. Apparently, the rationale was to give as many players as possible an opportunity. The chances of them taking that opportunity, however, were dramatically reduced by the ensuing sense of insecurity within the squad. Unfortunately, it's back to the drawing board for Sri Lanka.