SHARJAH : Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq and his Sri Lankan counterpart Tillakaratne Dilshan were both optimistic about their teams’ performance ahead of the third and final Test match to be played at the Sharjah cricket stadium on Thursday, Nov.3.“We want to play good and positive cricket, just do things right and see what happens. I think the Sharjah pitch is more batsman friendly and not much turn in it, not much in for fast bowlers,” opined Misbah at a press meet held at the Sharjah cricket stadium on Wednesday .Pakistan secured a convincing nine-wicket win in the second Test played at Dubai having drawn the first Test at Abu Dhabi and now look forward to win this big game at Sharjah.“Pakistan has good memories of playing in the UAE. We’ve played good cricket here, normally ODIs, even in the Tests we played against West Indies and Australia we just want to remember what good things we are doing and want to continue doing it,” said Misbah.“We enjoy playing here because there is a lot of support for our team. Traditionally it’s good and special to play here,” added Misbah.Sri Lanka’s Sangakkara, who played a brilliant innings of 211 runs along with Prasanna Jayawardene’s 100 in the first Test, will look to play to their full potential in this crucial game.“It’s not going to be easy but we have been preparing well, everyone needs to deliver and it might be a good chance to draw the series,” said Sri Lankan skipper Dilshan.“In the first two matches the batting let us down. It’s not enough for just two guys to get centuries. Everyone has to perform and get big scores,” said Dilshan.“We have spoken about it and the boys know the areas they need to improve on along with their own batting performance,” informed Dilshan.Misbah was pleased with the second Test win, which saw spinners Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman share seven second innings wickets to spearhead Pakistan’s victory which leaves them 1-0 up in the three-match series.“We’ve played a lot of cricket here and normally the pitch is good,” said Misbah.“It has helped the spinners in the One-Day Internationals we’ve played here and the Test against South Africa last year. We were clear in our own mind about that and it was a key factor for us.”The final Test being played on Thursday will not only test both teams who will fight for supremacy in this all important match but also determine the Sharjah cricket stadiums crowd pulling capability as it has proven in the past with a rich track record.The Sharjah Cricket Stadium scored its biggest hit in its illustrious history with Guinness World Records, the world’s leading authority on record-breaking achievements for playing host to 200 One-Day International matches, the most at one venue.
