Naveed, Inzamam guide Pakistan to easy win

SHARJAH, NOV. 2. Naveed Latif hit 113 off 141 balls in only his second one-dayer to lift Pakistan to a morale-boosting seven- wicket win over Sri Lanka in the Champions Trophy here on Friday.

The 23-year-old Allied Bank employee put on a match-winning stand of 219 for the third wicket with Inzamam-Ul Haq (118 not out) as Pakistan overtook Sri Lanka's challenging 272 for nine with four deliveries to spare.

The emphatic win before 20,000 supporters at the Sharjah cricket ground was just what Pakistan needed ahead of Sunday's final against the Sri Lankans.

It was Sri Lanka's first defeat after three wins in the tournament also featuring Zimbabwe. Pakistan also ended the league with three victories and avenged the seven-wicket defeat in the first round last Saturday.

A match that held only academic interest turned into a high- scoring thriller, producing the best batting of the tournament so far.

Both teams rested star players, Pakistan leaving out veterans Wasim Akram and Saeed Anwar and Sri Lanka going in without Muthiah Muralitharan and fast bowler Dilhara Fernando.

Fernando, who underwent scans after recurring back pain, is unlikely to be available for the final.

Mahela Jayawardena led the Sri Lankan charge with a superb 84 off 83 balls, while Avishka Gunawardena hit seven boundaries in his 57.

Latif and Inzamam came together after Pakistan was struggling at 41 for two in the 10th over and rattled the Sri Lankan attack that missed the services of spin spearhead Muralitharan.

Latif, who opened the batting, smashed nine fours and a six before he holed out in the deep in the 47th over when just 13 runs remained for victory.

The experienced Inzamam showed his class with 10 boundaries and two sixes, one of which off Prabath Nissanka sailed out of the ground.

Earlier, Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya, a veteran of 246 one-dayers, became his country's third batsman to surpass the 7,000-run mark.

The left-hander, who was wrongly credited with the landmark on Tuesday because of a statistical oversight when still 29 runs short, ensured he was not left red-faced again by making 36.

Jayasuriya joined his former World Cup-winning colleagues, Aravinda de Silva (8,430 runs) and Arjuna Ranatunga (7,456), as the three Sri Lankans in the coveted club.

Jayasuriya, who elected to bat after winning the toss, put on 95 for the first wicket with Gunawardena. Jayawardena smashed six fours, besides a towering six off Waqar Younis, before he holed out at mid-wicket off Shoaib Akhtar in the 48th over.

Akhtar, working up the pace that has made him one of the fastest bowlers in the world, finished with three wickets, including one off the final delivery of the innings.

- AFP

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