Sport - Cricket

Sri Lanka crowned Asian Test champion

LAHORE, MARCH 10. Sri Lanka won the Asian Test championship on Sunday, racing to an eight-wicket win over defending champion Pakistan on the last day of the final.

In a fitting finale, Kumar Sangakkara was at the crease when the Sri Lankans overhauled the victory target of 32 runs in 6.2 overs. Sangakkara, who scored 230 runs in Sri Lankan's first innings total of 528, was largely responsible for giving the visitor a 294-run lead after Pakistan was dismissed for 234 in the first innings.

He remained unbeaten on 14 at the non-striker's end when Mahela Jayawardene (12) cracked a boundary off Shoaib Akhtar to lift the Sri Lankans to 33 for two and to a well-earned victory.

Pakistan had resumed on Sunday at 248 for five in its second innings, still 46 runs in arrears. The last five Pakistani wickets tumbled for 77 runs as Chaminda Vaas snared three wickets, including the vital breakthrough of Inzamam-ul-Haq for 99.

``Sangakkara was brilliant in the first innings which helped us to put Pakistan under pressure,'' said winning skipper Sanath Jayasuriya, who also praised his bowlers for doing a good job in both innings.

Jayasuriya said getting above 500 in the first innings gave the Sri Lankans a major psychological edge in the last two days. It was the ninth consecutive Test win for the Sri Lankans, who went into the one-off Asian final on 3-0 series wins over the West Indies and Zimbabwe.

``It's our first win outside Sri Lanka as we won all our previous eight games at home, so it proves that we can win even outside home,'' he said.

Pakistan captain Waqar Younis said his lineup hadn't played to its potential. ``We didn't bowl well in the first innings - in fact we were poor in all the three departments in this final,'' he said. ``It was difficult for us to come back after giving them nearly 300-run lead.''

Younis said Sangakkara's double century and Muttiah Muralitharan's spin bowling were the difference between the teams. ``Sangakkara played an outstanding innings which made us struggle,'' he said. ``But had we got another 50 runs lead, it could have been an interesting match.''

Pakistan was bowled out for 325 in the second innings - an hour before lunch on the fifth and final day. It gave the host an overall lead of just 31 runs. The Sri Lankans lost two wickets before sealing the win. Marvan Atapattu and Jayasuriya were the batsmen dismissed as Pakistani pacemen Muhammad Sami - who took a hat-trick in the first innings - and Akhtar taking a wicket apiece.

Rain on Saturday and Haq's defiant innings delayed the inevitable until Vaas broke through on Sunday, removing Haq, Rashid Latif and Muhammad Sami in the morning session. Haq was unlucky to miss his 16th Test century when he was given out leg- before wicket just one run short of his 100.

Umpire Daryl Harper apparently failed to point a no- ball as the TV replays clearly showed that Vaas had over-stepped the crease. Unlike Saturday, during which only 32 overs were possible due to rain, Pakistan resumed on Sunday in bright sunshine.

Haq, 77 overnight, hammered spinner Muralitharan for 14 runs in an over before the Sri Lankans took the new ball in the fourth over of the day and Vaas struck twice in successive overs. He removed Haq in the second over with the new ball, ending the burly batsman's fighting five hours at the crease.

Haq shared a 100-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Shoaib Malik before he was dismissed. When Rashid Latif (2) offered a simple catch to Muralitharan in Vaas' next over and Malik (21) got a thick outside edge off left-arm seamer Nuwan Zoysa, Pakistan still needed three runs to bridge the deficit.

Younis delayed the resistance with a quickfire 25 off 28 deliveries but gave Muralitharan a fourth wicket of the innings. Muralitharan finished with four for 72. Vaas took four wickets for 85.

- AP

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