The past is prologue

Anant Gaundalkar

So the stage is set for the best of three finals of the Independence Cup - and a showdown between World Cup champions Sri Lanka, and the side rated the best in cricket today, Pakistan (though we do need to keep in mind, here, that the latter side are without three of their brightest stars).

This is the fifth occasion that these two countries will play each other in the finals of one-day international tournaments involving three or more teams - but the first instance when the final will be in the best-of-three format.

Of the previous four finals these two have contested over the years, the honours are equally shared, with two victories each. Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup in their own country way back in the 1985-'86 season. Pakistan followed it up with twin victories in the Wills Trophy in Sharjah in the 1992-'93 season and in the Singer Cup in Singapore last year. However, Lanka had the last laugh when they pocketed Singer Akai Cup in Sharjah last month.

Saeed Anwar, Saqlain Mushtaq, Aravinda De Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga and Sanath Jayasuriya among the current players were the chief architects of their sides' performance during these tournaments.

So with their previous meetings ending in a dead heat, which country will surge into the lead when the best of three finals begin this Saturday?

Here are the complete details of Sri Lanka-Pakistan faceoffs in ODI finals in the past, in chronological order:

Season	Championship	No. of Countries	Venue	Winner	Victory margin	Man of the final
1985-86	Asia Cup	3	Colombo	Sri Lanka	5 wickets	Javed Miadad (Pak)
1992-93	Wills Trophy	3	Sharjah	Pakistan	114 runs	Saeed Anwar (Pak)
1995-96	Singar Cup	3	Singapore	Pakistan	43 runs	Saqlain Mushtaq(Pak)
1996-97	Singer-Akai Cup	3	Sharjah	Sri Lanka	4 wickets	Aravinda De Silva (SL)

NOTES:

(i) The participating nations in each of the above tournaments were three while here, in the Pepsi Independence Cup, there are four participants.

1. The Man of the Series awards in each of the above cases were bagged by : Arjuna Ranatunga (SL), Wasim Akram (Pak), Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) and Arvinda De Silva (SL), respectively.