Jayawardene powers SL to series win

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Mahela Jayawardene pulls during his century – Internet photo

Sri Lanka 289 for 4 (Jayawardene 123, Tharanga 76) beat Pakistan 288 for 8 (Umar Akmal 66, Kamran Akmal 45) by six wickets
The morning may have belonged to the Akmal brothers and Pakistan, but it was all Sri Lanka in the afternoon, with an imperious century from Mahela Jayawardene central to a commanding six-wicket victory which clinched the series with two games to spare.
The pursuit of 289 was made to look like child's play as Jayawardene and Upul Tharanga put on 202 for the first wicket, and not even a brief wobble thereafter could stop Sri Lanka's inexorable progress.
Jayawardene's 123, his first hundred since 2007, took only 108 balls, and even cramps failed to curtail the boundary barrage as the bowlers were treated with disdain.
Jayawardene's driving down the ground, and over cover, was majestic, and any shortness in length was ruthlessly punished by the most elegant of pull shots. But for a huge leg-before shout from Shahid Afridi which he survived - the umpire suspecting a bottom edge- Jayawardene made few mistakes, finding the boundaries with elan as the bowling started to fall apart. There was even a cheeky reverse-sweep for four off Saeed Ajmal, as he cruised to his century from only 91 balls.
Tharanga had slowed after getting to his own half-century from 55 balls, content to work the ball around, but there was more than a measure of misfortune about his dismissal, with the Ajmal delivery clearly striking him outside the line of off stump. When Mahela followed, after a tired miscue to cover, Pakistan scented opportunity. And the feel-good factor increased when Thilan Samaraweera played one back to Ajmal off the leading edge.
But Sri Lanka weren't about to squander such a start. Thilina Kandamby and Kumar Sangakkara wrested the initiative back with a slew of boundaries, with Abdul Razzaq proving especially disappointing. Kandamby fell to Mohammad Aamer shortly before victory was clinched, but it was all too easy in the end.
Pakistan had done pretty well in that respect earlier in the day, with Umar Akmal carrying on where his brother, Kamran, left off. With Younis, Afridi, Razzaq and Naved contributing meaningful cameos, Pakistan finally had a total that could be defended.
It had started badly, with Nasir Jamshed guiding a Thilan Thushara delivery into the hands of slip, but Kamran and Younis quickly set about restoring parity. Neither Nuwan Kulasekara nor Thushara was allowed to settle, as both men picked the gaps and crashed the ball with impunity. After 56 came from the opening Powerplay, Sangakkara opted for the bustling pace of Dilhara Fernando and the medium pace of Angelo Mathews.
– Cricinfo