Pakistan vs Sri Lanka 4th ODI in Abu Dhabi: Mathews seeks change of fortunes on Christmas Day

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews will be praying for a turnaround in fortunes as they take on Pakistan in the fourth day-night one-day international at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

Pakistan lead the five-match series 2-1 after thrashing Sri Lanka by 113 runs in Sharjah on Sunday riding on a career-best unbeaten 140 by Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Gul's spectacular return to international cricket after a nine months claiming 3-19.

This is the first time in his five years of international cricket that Mathews, a Christian, would be playing on Christmas Day.

“Christmas is very special for all of us - not only for the Catholics - because we all love Christmas and definitely it is a blessing to play on Christmas day. We hope to do well on that day,” said Mathews as Sri Lanka look for a win to keep the series alive.

“We have nothing to lose and all that we need is to just go there and express ourselves, stay positive and be confident and try and win. We need to stay positive to win against Pakistan because we all know that Pakistan have got good batters and also bowlers and they have a pretty good and balanced team. We need to play a lot of positive cricket to take them on and win the game,” said the Sri Lanka skipper who is confident of bouncing back just like they did to level the series in Dubai with a two-wicket win.

HAFEEZ AND GUL FACTOR

Pakistan are on a roll with Hafeez striking a rich vein of form to score his second century of the series and Umar Gul adding more teeth to their attack especially in the death overs.

Hafeez's prolific form with the bat has even prompted talk of Pakistan's Twenty20 captain being drafted into the Test side.

"I think Hafeez has silenced his critics with his centuries and we are now considering including him in the team for the Test series as well," acting Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, Najam Sethi told reporters on Tuesday.

Hafeez has scored centuries in the first and third ODIs which Pakistan won and the flow of runs has brought some respite for him after being the constant target of criticism by former players and critics.

Hafeez was even dropped for the last Test series against South Africa in the UAE because of his poor batting form.

"He has done extremely well and shown his class and he can be in the Test side. We are also looking at including two to three new faces in the test squad," Sethi said.

Pakistan plays three Tests against the Lankans from December 31 which will be their last Test challenge before they play Australia in the UAE in October 2014.

Sethi said the youngsters in the team had done well which is why it was felt that the flow of new blood into the team was a good move.

"We will include some two to three new faces in the Test side when it is announced," he added.

Interestingly, in the T20 and ODI series as well the Pakistani selectors have shown lot of confidence in new and young players notably Bilawal Bhatti, Anwar Ali, Usman Khan and Sharjeel Khan.

VICTORY DANCE

Sethi said that Pakistan's recent good form was because of the confidence they gained from beating South Africa in their backyard in the one-day series last month.

"It is not easy beating South Africa in South Africa and that win gave our team lot of confidence and self belief," Sethi said.

The acting chairman has also been the subject of ridicule and criticism for his "victory dance" during the third one-dayer against Sri Lanka on Sunday.

Pakistan's former Test captain, Mohammad Yousuf saw the victory dance by Sethi as an attempt to save his seat.

"I think more than Pakistan's good performance he was celebrating the fact that since the team had done well his seat will remain," Yousuf said. Other players also felt it was unbecoming of a board chairman to behave publicly the way Sethi had done in Sharjah.

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