Jayawardene's final act as captain by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

---

Player:	DPMD Jayawardene, Younis Khan
Event:	Sri Lanka in Pakistan 2008/09

---

DateLine: 28th February 2009

 

Mahela Jayawardene will seek a winning farewell as captain when Sri Lanka take on Pakistan in the second and final Test starting at the Gaddafi Stadium here Sunday.

 

The 31-year-old, who has led Sri Lanka in 27 Tests with 15 wins, will step down as captain after this series to concentrate on his batting. Under him, Sri Lanka suffered seven defeats and drew the remaining five. Jayawardene hit a brilliant 240 runs and was involved in a world record fourth-wicket stand with Thilan Samaraweera (231) in the drawn first Test in Karachi but was overshadowed by home captain Younus Khan's epic 313. Jayawardene doubts his swansong as captain will be a distraction for the team.

 

Both teams hope they get a more bowler-friendly pitch for the second Test after batsmen dominated in the first match with 1,553 runs scored for the loss of only 18 wickets. Sri Lanka posted 644-7 declared in their first innings to which Pakistan replied with their highest Test total of 765-6 declared. The tourists did struggle in the second innings to raise hopes of an unlikely result before finishing the match at 144-5.

 

Jayawardene said his team's batting in the second outing was unwarranted. The tourists will have the option of bringing in recently arrived paceman Nuwan Kulasekara who replaced injured Farveez Maharoof. Maharoof had to return home after he was ruled out with an injury.

 

Pakistan too have the option of selecting rookie paceman Mohammad Talha in place of Sohail Khan, who struggled with fitness on a flat track. Younus hoped he gets more chance to attack his opponents. Younus disagreed Jayawardene's farewell could be a distraction for the tourists.

 

Teams (from):

 

Pakistan: Younus Khan (capt), Salman Butt, Khurram Manzoor, Ahmed Shahzad, Shoaib Malik, Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal, Asim Kamal, Fawad Alam, Yasir Arafat, Danish Kaneria, Kamran Akmal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Talha, Sohail Khan

 

Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Malinda Warnapura, Tharanga Paranavitana, Kumar Sangakkara, Thilan Samaraweera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Prasanna Jayawardene, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dilhara Fernando, Thilan Thushara, Suranga Lakmal

 

Umpires: Simon Taufel (AUS), Steve Davis (AUS)

 

TV umpire: Nadeem Ghouri (PAK)

 

ICC match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)