Latif hails his youngsters after second win

New Pakistan skipper Rashid Latif praised his young charges after their second consecutive win in the four-nation Cheery Blossom Sharjah Cup.

Pakistan now look certain finalists having accrued 11 points from two games after victories against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.

Pakistan comfortably chased down their 224 run target against the Sri Lankans, winning with seven wickets and 2.4 overs to spare.

"I am very pleased with the performance of Hafeez and Faisal as they stuck to the gameplan," said Latif, speaking in Urdu afterwards.

He expects his inexperienced side to improve: "This young side has come in from various places and have not played together much - their coordination will improve and we will avoid some of the mistakes that were made today."

His Sri Lankan counterpart, Sanath Jayasuriya, rued a weak batting display: "We needed to put more runs on the board."

But he hailed the performance of Kumar Sangakarra, who was adjudged the man of the match for his unbeaten 100 from 111 balls, his maiden ODI century.

"It was very important that Kumar (Sangakkara) got runs and he batted really well today," said Jayasuriya.

Sangakkara, who was nearly dropped for the tournament after a lean World Cup, appeared grateful to be relieved of his wicket-keeping duties.

"Batting and wicket-keeping are two very different jobs and, I suppose, mentally it is easier to just do one job."