The Pakistan team will assemble in Karachi on Friday for a brief training camp. The camp is organized ahead of the hurriedly-arranged one-day series against Sri Lanka that will start on Tuesday. The team comprising of fifteen players selected for the three-match assignment and a few reserves will warm up under the supervision of coach Intikhab Alam in Karachi. The camp is held ahead of the series opener at the National Stadium here under lights. The second ODI of the series will be played next

Wednesday and the last match will be played on January 24 in Lahore.

Intikhab, who is also a former Pakistan captain said on Thursday that the main idea behind organizing the camp is to get the players together for a few days before the start of the much-awaited series. He said that the boys are already fit as almost all of them are playing domestic matches. But the management wanted them to spend some time together in the nets before the series begins.

Intikhab also added that the team management and Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik have prepared a strategy against Sri Lanka. He sounded confident that the team has the ability to tackle the touring spin twins - Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis efficiaciously.

The Murali-Mendis spin partnership is considered as the best spin team in the world. Intikhab had earlier said that he was aware of the threat of the duo. Pakistan has lined up the series against Sri Lanka in order to fill in for the cancelled home series against India. Earlier, India was supposed to visit Pakistan in January-February.

India cancelled the tour to Pakistan because of strained relations between the two governments over last year’s terror attacks in Mumbai. After the one-dayers, Sri Lanka will come back to home to host India in a one-day series Jan 28-Feb 14. They will back in Pakistan later for the Test series.

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After scoring his second century of the game and taking 4-10, Tillakaratne Dilshan made Sri Lanka win the second Test with their highest winning margin.

Sri Lanka won by 456 runs, this was Bangladesh’s heaviest defeat.

Dilshan struck 143 as Sri Lanka took their overnight 296-4 to 447-6 - their declaration setting Bangladesh a huge 624 to win in Chittagong.

Bangladesh drooping to 52-5 and later collapsed from 144-6 to 158 all out with Dilshan dismissing the trail.

It made sure that Sri Lanka won the series 2-0 after their victory in the opening Test in

Dhaka - and also surpassed their previous highest winning margin, a 315-run victory over Zimbabwe in 2002.

This was the fifth highest winning run margin in the history of Test cricket.

The star of the show was in Chittagong was Dilshan, who scored 162 in the first innings.

He became the fourth Sri Lankan to score a century in both innings. The 32-year-old, who was eventually bowled by left-arm spinner Enamul Haque, joins the club with Duleep Mendis, Asanka Gurusinha and Aravinda de Silva.

Spinner Ajantha Mendis smashed up the top of the Bangladesh order, claiming 3-23 in his first 10 overs to leave the home team reeling.

Imrul Kayes was caught at slip, Junaid Siddique fell lbw and Mohammad Ashraful edged to the keeper after he failed to read a googy.

It was only Mushfiqur Rahim (43) and Al Hasan (46) who offered any serious struggle with their partnership of 92.

But the moment Al Hasan became Dilshan’s first victim, stumped by Prasanna Jayawardene, the end was quick.

Ashraful and Rahim of Bangladesh were fined for breaches of the ICC’s code of conduct following an event on day three when Rahim appealed for a catch off Mehrab Hossain Jr, against Dilshan, and it was turned down.

Rahim was fined 50% of his match fee, while Ashraful was fined 15% of his.

“Mushfiqur conceded in the hearing that it was unacceptable behaviour when he clearly left his position from behind the stumps, charged and ended up appealing some six metres away directly towards the umpire,” match referee Jeff Crowe said.

This kind of appealing is projected to place avoidable pressure on the umpire and has no place in the game.

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