Date-stamped : 05 Apr97 - 14:18 Report- Daily News With a record third wicket stand of 184 runs Aravinda and Marvan steer Sri Lanka to victory By Kuldip Lal SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates, Friday - Pakistan's middle-order committed harakiri on the brink of victory to gift world champions Sri Lanka a 19-run victory in the Sharjah Cup here on Friday. Pakistan, chasing Sri Lanka's 243 for eight, were comfortably placed when Shahid Afridi's explosive 67 off 55 balls and Salim Malik's 51 carried them to 173 for four by the 38th over. But Pakistan lost five wickets for 24 runs in a dramatic lower order collapse to end up with 224 for nine in perfect batting conditions at the Sharjah cricket stadium. Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan made amends for dropping an easy skier off Afridi early in his innings by grabbing three wickets in the space of three overs to turn the match Sri Lanka's way. Muralitharan trapped Malik leg before in the 38th over to start the slide, before removing Mohammad Wasim and skipper Wasim Akram off successive balls two overs later. It was Sri Lanka's second successive win in the double-leg preliminary league after thrashing Zimbabwe by seven wickets in Thursday's opening match. Sri Lanka's score revolved around a record 184-run stand for the third wicket between 200-match veteran Aravinda De Silva (97) and Marvan Atapattu (94). The pair came together after Pakistan, electing to field first, had removed the formidable opening pair of Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharna by the second over with only four runs on the board. But Pakistan had to wait till the 40th over for their next wicket as De Silva and Atapattu flayed the strong Pakistani attack with some glorious strokeplay. Their effort equalled Sri Lanka's best for the third wicket between De Silva and Asanka Gurusinha against Kenya in the 1996 World Cup at home in Kandy. It also surpassed the previous best of 175 for the third wicket at this desert venue, between India's Navjot Sidhu and Mohammad Azharuddin against Sri Lanka in April, 1995. De Silva celebrated his 200th one-dayer by being adjudged Man of the Match for the second time in two days. His effort of 60 against Zimbabwe won him the same honour. Afridi, world record holder for the fastest one-day century (37 balls), smashed five sixes and four boundaries after being dropped by Muralitharan at mid-on when on 29. Two of his sixes came off left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas and three off spinner Kumara Dharmasena, including two in one over. But left-arm spinner Sanath Jayasuriya, who replaced the dazed Dharmasena for the 22nd over, struck with his first delivery as Afridi lofted an easy catch to long-on. Malik, playing his 250th one-dayer, and Moin Khan (30 not out) fought on bravely, but found little support from the remaining batsmen. Earlier, Atapattu came within six runs of his maiden one-day century when Mushtaq picked up a superb diving catch in the covers to break the long partnersip. Atapattu hit 10 boundaries in his 118-ball innings. De Silva, with seven one-day hundreds under his belt but looking for his first at Sharjah, was stumped off Saqlain Mushtaq in the final over three short of the mark. Saqlain led a late Pakistani revival with three quick wickets as Sri Lanka lost five batsmen in the space of 21 runs in the last five overs. Pakistan take on Zimbabwe in the next match on Sunday after a day of rest. Source :: Daily News (http://www.lanka.net) Report - Electronic Telegraph De Silva leads in record stand By Nelson Clare in Sharjah A PAKISTAN collapse gifted Sri Lanka, the world champions, a 19-run victory in the Sharjah Cup yesterday in the United Arab Emirates. Pakistan, chasing 243 for eight, were comfortably placed when Shahid Afridi's 67 off 55 balls and Salim Malik's 51 carried them to 173 for four by the 38th over. But Pakistan then lost five wickets for 24 runs, the off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan taking three wickets in three overs to turn the match Sri Lanka's way. It was Sri Lanka's second successive win in the double-leg preliminary league after beating Zimbabwe by seven wickets in Thursday's opening match. Sri Lanka's score revolved around a record 184-run stand for the third wicket between Aravinda De Silva (97) and Marvan Atapattu (94). Their effort equalled Sri Lanka's best in limited- overs cricket for the third wicket between De Silva, adjudged man of the match for the second time in two days, and Asanka Gurusinha against Kenya in the 1996 World Cup at home in Kandy. It also surpassed the previous best of 175 for the third wicket at the desert venue between India's Navjot Sidhu and Mohammad Azharuddin against Sri Lanka in April 1995. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)