LAHORE, Jan 24: In what could be termed as one of the most shockingly lop-sided contests in the limited-overs cricket history, Sri Lanka thrashed hapless Pakistan on their home turf by a record margin of 234 runs to lift the Bank Alfalah Cup in front of a sizeable crowd at the Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday.

Set a daunting 310 for victory by Sri Lanka in 50 overs, Shoaib Malik’s men crashed to 75 all out to leave critics and fans stunned on a cloudy evening at the picturesque stadium.

Pakistan batsman looked out of sorts from the very start as Nuwan Kulasekara and Thilan Thushara, sharing six wickets between them, ripped through the hosts’ top order to reduced them to 22 for 6 on a wicket playing fairly easy. First to go was Younis Khan, sent to open the innings with Khurram Manzoor in place of regular opener Salman Butt who was held back over a ‘time rule’ for leaving the stadium just before the end of Sri Lankan innings. Younis, the senior most batsman in the side, was adjudged leg before wicket to Thushara in the second over as he tentatively pushed at a swinging delivery.

Next to come was Salman Butt but lasted just one-ball as Kulasekara had him caught by Thilina Kandamby in the first slip off a loosely played cut shot. Out-of-form Kamran Akmal, upgraded for reasons best known to skipper, was the next victim of Kulasekara, who got him leg before wicket.

More miseries were in store as Khurram after facing 19 balls and scoring just three, was caught by Farveez Maharoof off Kulasekara as Pakistan tottered at 17 for 4 in just 6.2 overs with defeat already staring in their face. Keeping up the pace of attacks, Sri Lankan bowlers, getting full support from their fielders, continued to dominate when Thushara accounted for the man of crisis Misbah-ul-Haq, who fell to an identical stroke which caused his dismissal in Karachi’s second ODI.

He was caught by Kumar Sangakara for a seven-ball duck and all hopes of a possible recovery dashed with that.

Shahid Afridi, not in the best of forms these days, fell in an awful manner as he left an in-swinger off Kulasekara to see his stumps shattered for a duck with scoreboard reading 22-6.

Captain Shoaib Malik (19, two fours) and Umar Gul (27,three fours one six) tried to repair the early damage but their seventh-wicket stand of 46 could only help Pakistan cross their lowest total of 43 in all ODIs against the West Indies in 1993. After Umar was declared leg before wicket of Ajantha Mendis, Shoaib also fell to Maharoof in quick succession with the total at 68.

It was left to spinning great Muttiah Muralitharan to finish the innings and close in further on the world record of highest wickets in ODIs. He took the last two wickets to complete 500 wicket mark in 324th ODI and is just two wickets away from Pakistan’s Wasim Akram’s world record of 502 scalps.

Earlier, a career-best, unbeaten 137 by opener Tillekeratne Dilshan propelled Sri Lanka to a formidable score after they elected to bat first. Dilshan’s knock, under the overcast condition on batting-friendly strip, was a treat to watch. In the beginning though medium-pacer Umar (12 runs, four overs) with his new-ball partner Sohail Khan (18 runs, six overs) bowled superbly in the first spell as Dilshan and Jayasuriya took time to settle down and also got one chance each when Younis Khan and Salman Butt failed to hold on to the sharp chances.

Both the SL openers put on 76 when Jayasuriya fell for a well played 45 off 50 balls, caught at mid on by Saeed Ajmal off Umar. He was particularly severe on medium fast Rao Iftikhar, who conceded 53 runs in five overs, belting him for 24 runs in one over with one six and three boundaries. Dilshan further steadied the innings with Kumar Sangakara as both put on invaluable 104 runs in the second-wicket stand.

But both Dilshan and Sangakkara playing every ball on merit crossed 100 post in 18.2 overs as Shoaib Malik failed to restrict the two with two-pronged spin attack. The Pakistan skipper’s moves on the field left a lot to be desired as the Sri Lankans went on merrily towards a hefty score. The second breakthrough eventually came when Sangakkara was run out for a fine 50 off 58 balls with two fours.

Dilshan, however, continued his march towards his career-best knock and with next man Thilina Kandamby added another precious 57 runs for the third wicket stand. Kandamby in an attempt hit hard left at the total of 237 as Khurram caught him at cover area off Sohail for 32. Soon Dilshan completed his century off 119 balls with four boundaries.

At 284, Umar in a rather late strike earned took two wickets in his 8th over, making it 284-5 from 284-3 as Jayawardene (18) and Chamara Kapugedera (0) were his victim. But the damage had been done to Pakistan as Dilshan with Maharoof collected 25 runs more to set an imposing total of 309-5 in 50 overs.

Dilshan won the Man-of-the-Match and Man of the Series awards for his prolific batting in the three-match series.

Pakistan made two changes, bringing in medium-fast Sohail Khan and Saeed Ajmal in place of duo pacers Shoaib Akhtar and Sohail Tanvir, who failed to get nod due to their poor run in the first ODIs.Sri Lanka, however, fielded the same team which had squared the series 1-1 by winning the second match.

Scoreboard

SRI LANKA:

T.M. Dilshan not out 137

S.T. Jayasuriya c Saeed b Umar Gul 45

K.C. Sangakkara run out 50

S.H.T. Kandamby c Khurram b Sohail 32

M. Jayawardene c Kamran b Umar Gul 18

C.K. Kapugedera c Kamran b Umar Gul 0

M.F. Maharoof not out 8

EXTRAS (LB-5, W-13, NB-1) 19

TOTAL (for five wkts, 50 overs) 309

FALL OF WKTS: 1-76, 2-180, 3-237, 4-284,

5-284.

DID NOT BAT: T. Thushara, K.M.D.N. Kulasekara, M. Muralitharan, B.A.W. Mendis.

BOWLING: Umar Gul 9-2-45-3; Sohail Khan 10-1-52-1; Rao Iftikhar 5-0-53-0 (1nb, 5w); Saeed Ajmal 9-0-51-0 (1w); Shahid Afridi 10-0-60-0 (2w); Shoaib Malik 7-0-43-0 (5w).

PAKISTAN:

Khurram Manzoor c Maharoof b K’sekara 3

Younis Khan lbw b Thushara 4

Salman Butt lbw b Kulasekara 0

Kamran Akmal lbw b Thushara 9

Shoaib Malik c J’dene b Maharoof 19

Misbah-ul-Haq c S’kkara b Thushara 0

Shahid Afridi b K’sekara 0

Umar Gul lbw b Mendis 27

Rao Iftikhar lbw b Muralitharan 0

Sohail Khan b Muralitharan 4

Saeed Ajmal not out 2

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-6) 7

TOTAL (all out, 22.5 overs) 75

FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-5, 3-17, 4-17, 5-18,

6-22, 7-68, 8-68, 9-72.

BOWLING: Kulasekara 7-2-17-3 (3w); Thushara 7-1-33-3 (2w); Mendis 3-0-10-1 (1w); Maharoof 4-1-12-1; Muralitharan

1.5-0-2-2.

RESULT: Sri Lanka won by 234 runs to win three-match series 2-1.

UMPIRES: Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and

N.J. Llong (England).

TV UMPIRE: Nadeem Ghauri (Pakistan).

MATCH REFEREE: B.C. Broad (England).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Tillekeratne Dilshan.

MAN-OF-THE-SERIES: Tillekeratne Dilshan.

FIRST MATCH: Karachi, Pakistan won by eight wickets.

SECOND MATCH: Karachi, Sri Lanka won by 129 runs.