Hafeez leads Pakistan to big win over S. Africa

Sri Lanka players drop pay demand

CENTURION, South Africa, March 3, (AFP): Mohammad Hafeez put a poor Test series behind him when he led Pakistan to a crushing 95-run win in the second and final Twenty20 international against South Africa at SuperSport Park on Sunday.

Hafeez hammered 86 and took three wickets for 25 runs, while fast bowler Umar Gul took five for six as South Africa collapsed to 100 all out in reply to Pakistan’s 195 for seven in what was a series decider after the first match in Durban was washed out.

Appointed Pakistan’s captain in the shortest form of the game, Hafeez thrashed four sixes and nine fours off 50 balls.

When he was on 73 he became the first Pakistani to reach 1,000 runs in T20 internationals.

His innings was in dramatic contrast to his struggles in a threematch Test series which ended last week in which he could score only 43 runs in six innings at an average of 7.16.

“I knew I was playing well in the nets but just getting good balls in the Tests,” he said.

“It was disappointing but the coach ( Dav Whatmore) has been working hard with me in the nets.”

Hafeez said he felt criticism of the team after they were beaten 3-0 in the Test series had been premature.

“As a team we knew it was a different format and we have to come out with some good performances. The boys showed a great deal of character and wanted to do something special with the one-day internationals coming up.”

South Africa and Pakistan meet in five one-day internationals, starting in Bloemfontein next Sunday.

A second wicket partnership of 83 off 48 balls with Ahmed Shehzad (46) set Pakistan on the way, but the innings lost momentum when Hafeez was out hit wicket with the total on 170 off the third ball of the 17th over.

Hafeez slipped as he went back in his crease to hit Rory Kleinveldt to the cover boundary and he dislodged his bails.

South Africa made a flying start, with AB de Villiers batting audaciously as the home side reached 48 for one in four overs.

But Gul then took four wickets in six balls, spread across two overs, as the match swung in Pakistan’s favour.

Three South Africans were out first ball.

In between De Villiers was bowled by Mohammad Irfan for 36, made off 22 balls with two sixes and four fours.

“The shorter the version of the game, the more one individual can come through and win it,” said South Africa captain Faf du Plessis.

“Hafeez was fantastic and put out bowlers under pressure. Umar Gul was a case of us trying to win the game by going hard to get the run rate up.”

In Colombo, Sri Lanka’s national cricketers dropped a controversial pay demand on Sunday, clearing the way for them to play against Bangladesh in a forthcoming series, a senior official said.

Chief Selector Sanath Jayasuriya said he held talks with the rebellious players who agreed to the conditions offered by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and would be available for selection for the first Test starting March 8.

“The players agreed to sign the contracts,” Jayasuriya told AFP after meeting the players in Colombo. “There is no question of higher pay or anything like that. We all agreed that we must put country first before anything else.”

Jayasuriya met the players after a Saturday deadline passed with Sri Lanka’s 23 international players failing to enter into employment agreements with SLC, the sport’s governing body on the island.

Former skipper Kumar Sangakkara was dropped from a practice match against the visiting Bangladesh team on Sunday because he failed to sign his employment contract before the Saturday deadline.

Following talks with Jayasuriya, Sangakkara said he was obeying a gag order imposed by SLC.

“The board has told us not to talk to the media,” he told reporters outside the SLC.

His reluctance to speak indicated he had agreed to be a contracted player, as they are only allowed to speak to the press after permission from the SLC.

The Bangladesh series includes two Test matches. Players had originally insisted they needed a 25 percent share of all payments made by the International Cricket Council for tournaments, as well as a business-class ticket for a spouse to travel on tour.

Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage told reporters he had instructed Sri Lanka Cricket to drop any player who refused to sign their new contracts.

“I have told them that they should pick a new team for the Bangladesh tour if the seniors refuse,” Aluthgamage said.

He said senior players received four million rupees ($32,000) a month, or about 400 times the salary a graduate earns when entering government employment.