Pakistan v Sri Lanka, 1st ODI, Karachi

Pakistan 220 for 2 (Butt 100*, Manzoor 83) beat

Sri Lanka 219 (Sangakkara 49, Anjum 4-42, Gul 3-30)by eight wickets

A country starved of international cricket for over six months celebrated with a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka to take a 1-0 lead in the series, thanks to the efforts of Salman Butt and Khurram Manzoor, who made light work of the 220-run target. Pakistan took full advantage of a jaded Sri Lankan side still circumspect with their form after struggling against weak sides in the recent months.

Sri Lanka were outclassed particularly in the batting and the wounds are taking way too long to heal. Their relatively potent bowling attack struggled to script a turnaround for the team's fortunes as a whole and with the first breakthrough coming as late as the 38th over, it was curtains for Sri Lanka.

Pakistan's discipline, impressive for a team denied of opportunities to play as a unit in the last year, carried them through. Save for a poor start with the ball, there were no other signs of rustiness and the positive body language showed they were happy to be back and performing against stronger opposition.

The start to the chase wasn't electric but watchful. It was a contrasting approach to Sri Lanka's earlier in the day, as the batsmen saw off the opening bowlers, who kept things fairly tight. That the Powerplays cost only 32 and 23 runs respectively, didn't cause too many worries in the Pakistan camp as they chased a below-par score.

The question was whether Pakistan would hold their own against the spinners, and their preparations against Ajantha Mendis seemed to pay off as they played him effectively off the hand. The plan was to get forward and smother the spin as most of Mendis' deliveries appeared to skid through.

Mendis was duly punished for ten runs in his first over, which included two forceful shots by Manzoor square of the wicket on either side. Mahela Jayawardene placed a slip to induce a mistake but Manzoor frequently glided deliveries past that fielder, even bringing up his fifty off one such deft touch.

The consistent Butt carried on his solid touch from the previous year - which he scored 861 runs - with some neat flicks past midwicket off Nuwan Kulasekara. He used his feet well against the spinners, playing down the line and with the turn. When Sanath Jayasuriya was brought on to effect a breakthrough, Butt slogged him for boundaries over midwicket.

His partner wasn't quite so assured at the start though and often made the mistake of shuffling across too far and cramping himself for room to cut. He gained in confidence as the innings progressed but perished at the stroke of the third Powerplay, caught and bowled by Muralitharan, after giving the bowler the charge but failing to get the elevation.

Butt pushed Mendis to deep cover to bring up his tenth ODI fifty. His ability to convert his fifties into bigger scores showed why he was among the top run scorers last year. He was surprisingly out of touch in the Abu Dhabi ODIs against West Indies in November, but today he shrugged off his recent indifferent form when he pushed a single to long-on to bring up his eighth ODI ton and fourth in the last 12 months.

It was a lesson on how to bat on this wicket, which played true to its prediction as a batting track. Sri Lanka's batsmen had the advantage at the toss but floundered after a strong start. The insecurities of the middle-order slowly surfaced as Pakistan clawed back, applied the pressure and restricted Sri Lanka to a total much lower than projected after the early blitz.

The experiment of asking Dilshan to open clicked and his heaves and slashes, effective but not necessarily attractive, showed why Sri Lanka missed him during the Bangladesh ODIs. Umar Gul, fresh from a stint in Australia, found success as early as his first over, getting Dilshan caught and then trapping Jayasuriya in front.

At the end of the 14th over, Sri Lanka had raced ahead with 89 on the board but the dismissals pegged the scoring back to the point from which they never recovered. Kumar Sangakkara swept the spinners, grafted away and was happy pushing the singles - he took 26 in all.

Kapugedera and Jehan Mubarak threw away their wickets, while Sangakkara perished off an upper cut, taken athletically by Butt at point just short of his fifty. In the end, it was Pakistan's first and second change bowlers who did most of the damage, after the hype surrounding Shoaib Akhtar's inclusion.

Sri Lanka don't have any time to regroup, with the second game scheduled for tomorrow. Pakistan will look for a series win and bring more smiles back to the faces of their fans who were given a second chance after India's pull-out.

Pakistan v Bangladesh, 1st ODI, Lahore

Pakistan 322 for 7 (Yousuf 108*, Malik 85) beat
Bangladesh 129 (Tanvir 3-29, Afridi 3-41) by 152 runs


Bangladesh suffered one of their most embarssing defeats in one-dayers when they went down by 152 runs in the first match at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

A 145-run fourth-wicket partnership between Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik propelled Pakistan to an imposing 322 for 7 and set up the victory on a flat batting strip, before the seamers dented Bangladesh's reply. Two interruptions early in the chase - caused by floodlight failures - reduced the target to 282 from 39 overs and offered no respite as the innings folded up within 30 overs.

The experienced duo of Yousuf and Malik steadied the ship after the top order failed to capitalise in conditions tailor-made for batting, especially with the afternoon start negating effects of early swing. They took on Bangladesh's slow bowlers, who've earned a reputation for applying the stranglehold in the middle overs, and the stand came at over a run-a-ball - Malik contributed 85 and Yousuf carried on to an unbeaten 103-ball 108, his 15th ODI hundred.

The pair came together at 70 for 3 in the 18th over and took little time to settle down and push the scoring. The spinners were rendered impotent as the batting conditions eased out further through the evening - with no turn on offer, the pair picked off easy singles and never failed to put away the long-hops and half volleys.

Malik got his eye in quickly and peppered the offside boundary. If it was pitched fractionally short and wide, he gave himself room and creamed it past backward point. A punch to long-off brought up his fifty, off just 45 balls, and the pair clocked 100 runs off only 92. Mohammad Ashraful and Aftab Ahmed were at the receiving end of the pounding early on and Malik adjusted well at the crease each time they varied the length of the ball. If it was full, it was creamed past the covers; if it was pitched fractionally short, it was slashed past backward point. Malik looked set for a century but perished after giving Shakib Al Hasan the charge, sending one down Shahriar Nafees' throat at long-off.

Yousuf initially played second fiddle to Malik and was more intent in rotating the strike. He then took Mahmudullah, the part-time offspinner, to the cleaners, sweeping with precision to the on side boundaries and even improvising with a reverse-sweep. Mahmudullah conceded 21 in one over, which included two consecutive sixes by Misbah-ul-Haq, and conceded a dubious 59 off five overs before he was finally pulled out.

Yousuf brought up his 15th ODI ton with a sweep to the deep on the on side and the team's 300 with a slash wide of backward point. Shahid Afridi added his fireworks in the end to push the score to 322.

Bangladesh's new opening pair of Shahriar Nafees and Tamim Iqbal failed to carry on their success in the recent series against Ireland when faced with a world class bowling attack. Umar Gul and Sohail Tanvir challenged the pair with bounce and exaggerated seam movement as the batting conditions appeared considerably difficult. Tamim was all at sea against Tanvir and was squared up by an inswinger which took the off stump.

Nafees then fell off an injudicious stroke off an equally poor delivery. Nailed to the crease, he flashed at a delivery so wide - even by Test match standards - and managed a thin edge to Kamran Akmal. Four overs later, Tanvir changed his line of attack to round the wicket and immediately got a wicket. Aftab Ahmed, who survived a nervous start charged down the track to launch him downtown, misread the shorter length and got a thick outside edge to Akmal. The lights went out at the end of the 12th over, forcing the players off the field and a second interruption, four balls into the next over didn't help Bangladesh's cause.

The situation deteriorated further when Rao Iftikhar Anjum struck twice in successive deliveries to send back Mohammad Ashraful and Shakib Al Hasan shortly after resumption. Ashraful's lost his offstump while attempting a wild swing across the line and Shakib got a thick edge to Akmal off a loose drive away from his body. A mix-up in the running compounded their woes as Raqibul Hasan called for a risky single and sent back Mahmudullah. At 68 for 6, it was all one-way traffic as Afridi and Malik shared the last four wickets to mop up the tail.

Man of the Match: Muhammad Yousuf

India v Pakistan, 1st ODI, Guwahati, in photo Index