Ajmal outfoxes Lankan batsmen

Sharjah: Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal, the hero of the Dubai Test, produced yet another brilliant bowling spell to bag four wickets in the third and final encounter against Sri Lanka at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium yesterday.

Speaking after his spell that restricted Sri Lanka's run flow after a brilliant start, Ajmal said: "We bowled with great discipline and that is why we got wickets today. The wicket is still a batting track, but if you can bowl with discipline you can get wickets here."

Elaborating on the bowling strategy, he said: "What we did today was to stop runs in the first and second sessions and in the process got wickets."

When asked if it was disappointing not to get a second successive five-wicket haul, he said: "I'm very happy with four wickets because on the first day I bowled the whole day and got only one wicket, so I am delighted to get three more wickets today.

"Umar Gul, Abdul Rahman and Junaid Khan also bowled well and took wickets and so we are very happy."

Ajmal, who got loud cheers from the large number of Pakistan fans in the stadium, was delighted with the response from the supporters.

Support

"We need such support from the fans because we are not playing in front of our home crowd and we are missing Pakistan fans' support," he said.

"It was so nice to find so many from our country cheering for us today."

Ajmal feels that a good first innings total is a must. "We must score a big total in the first innings because the last two days the wicket is bound to turn.

"The way they batted on the first day they could have scored over 500 runs. Today we bowled very well and restricted them to just around 400. Now we need to bat and get a good score to put them under pressure."