Pakistan and Sri Lanka Provide a Fitting World Twenty20 Final

If there is an equation for Twenty20 success perhaps the two sides in tomorrow'sWorld final provide the solution. Watch how they go about their business in the field and the parallels are plain to see.

They have spinners who can turn the ball in both directions (Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan for Sri Lanka, Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal for ­Pakistan) and pace bowlers who are incredibly adept at delivering yorkers to order (Lasith Malinga and Umar Gul) plus a couple of left-armers too young to feel fear (Isuru Udana and Mohammad Aamer).

Both sides know how to play "tournament" cricket – unlike South Africa, who invariably look invincible until a semi-final comes along. Pakistan may not have won a major tournament since the World Cup in 1992, against ­England in Melbourne, and Sri Lanka's last success was in the 1996 World Cup final against Australia, but they have the capacity to peak and reach finals in a way that must be the envy of South Africa or England.

Pakistan's campaign mirrors their 1992 effort. Then they were on the brink of elimination for weeks. Imran Khan delivered his "cornered tigers" speech and they contrived victories that seemed out of the question. In their semi-final at Auckland, they defeated New Zealand, who controlled the match for 90% of the time – but not for the last 10%. Even in the final England seemed to have a stranglehold until Pakistan's flair, in the form of Wasim Akram and Mushtaq Ahmed, decided the outcome.

In this much briefer campaign they have been thrashed by England at The Oval and soundly beaten by Sri Lanka at Lord's ... but they were the only side to overcome South Africa. Since their defeats Afridi has been transformed from hopeless hacker to Herculean hitter and they have rationalized their bowling attack, saving Gul until the second half of the innings, when his reverse-swinging yorkers have been deadly.

Their captain, Younis Khan, has been mightily impressive, both as a ­batsman and a leader. He did not deliver a ­"cornered tigers" speech. Instead, early in the tournament with his team ­struggling, he said: "In this form of the game it is better to take it easy and have fun. It is like WWF". I don't suppose he quite meant that but it seems as if he succeeded in taking the pressure off his players.

Even so, Sri Lanka are the favourites for tomorrow's match. They are the more reliable side. They are unbeaten throughout the last fortnight; they possess the batsman of the tournament in Tillakaratne Dilshan and they have a pack of bowlers who take the pressure off before a ball is delivered. The Sri Lankan batsmen know that a mammoth total is not required since their bowlers have proved that they can defend a modest one.

This may be just as well since there appears to be a dearth of explosive ­batsmen down the order. We wait to see how they cope if Dilshan fails but they do not lack finesse when Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara combine. These two have constituted a potent and articulate Sri Lankan thinktank for some time, though now it is Sangakkara who makes the final decisions.

This may be our last opportunity to witness Sanath Jayasuriya at the crease, a self-effacing, flinty competitor, touched with genius and the man who explored new territory for batsmen in the 1996 World Cup. Jayasuriya will be 40 soon and he made his one-day debut for Sri Lanka three years before his adversary today, the 17-year-old Aamer, was born. That will be an alluring meeting of two generations.

This is also a meeting of two sides that have endured far more than their peers in recent times. It was just over three months ago that terrorists attacked the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore with the consequence that several of their players were injured, the Test match was immediately canceled and the prospect of any international cricket being played in Pakistan in the foreseeable future ­disappeared.

Both sets of cricketers – and their ­supporters – have recently experienced trials way beyond the norm. Maybe they are the teams that deserve to be at Lord's today.