Kandy test abandoned after three days of heavy rain

Charlie Austin

July 2, 2000

A highly entertaining series, that has included cricket of the highest quality, came to a drab and disappointing end after heavy rains prevented any further play in the match. After storms during Saturday night umpires Steve Bucknor and Peter Manuel had no option but to abandon play today.

When the Pakistan team finally arrived for the match presentation (They had apparently been caught in traffic and were thirty minutes late) Moin Khan received the Hatton National Bank Trophy for Pakistan's series victory and Wasim Akram was adjudged man of the series by John Reid, the match referee.

It was an award that was well deserved for he was the single most important reason for Pakistan's success in this series. Looking back on the tour Moin Khan clearly identified his last wicket partnership with Arshad Khan as the key moment: "The turning point of series was definitely Wasim Akram's innings in the first match where he scored 78. He has contributed a lot throughout the series and I think he is the only difference between the two sides."

Whilst three days of rain may have ensured the Pakistan players a welcome break before the one day matches, it was frustrating for Sri Lanka. Though buoyed by the performance of the openers, they missed an opportunity to fully restore their confidence after the drumming they received in the previous two matches.

Nevertheless Sanath Jayasuriya was happy that his team had responded well in this series: "Our batting had been going down a bit in the first two matches, we had wanted to do better here and did so with a record partnership and a big score. This has boosted the confidence of the team and is good news for the future games."

Asked as to what lessons have been learnt: "The Pakistani's are an experienced side who have been playing a lot of cricket in the last six months and they have been putting us under a lot of pressure. With both the new ball and the old they have been bowling well. We have plenty of things to learn and it has done our cricketers a lot of good to play some hard and positive cricket."

The focus now turns to the Singer triangular tournament that starts in Galle on Wednesday. The final squads for the tournament have yet to be confirmed but Wasim Akram is certain to be leaving.

On receiving his man of the series award he bid a fond farewell to Sri Lanka: "The whole team have played well here and I have really had a great time. I think it is my last tour to Sri Lanka and I would like to thank everyone here who has backed me up over the last 16 years. I would though love to come back here as a tourist."

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Players/Umpires

Moin Khan

Wasim Akram

Series/Tournaments

Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka

Teams

Pakistan

Sri Lanka

Grounds

Asgiriya Stadium