Asia Cup 2014 highlights: Lasith Malinga's fifer sinks Pakistan as Sri Lanka win by 12 runs
Malinga five-for cuts Pakistan short
Sri Lanka 296 for 6 (Thirimanne 102, Sangakkara 67, Mathews 55*) beat Pakistan 284 (Umar Akmal 74, Misbah 73, Malinga 5-52) by 12 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
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Players/Officials:
Lahiru Thirimanne
| Kumar Sangakkara
Matches:
Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Fatullah
Series/Tournaments:
Asia Cup
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Lasith Malinga reasserted his skill for rattling chases in a tight
finish, after Lahiru Thirimanne had proclaimed his relevance to the ODI
format, as Sri Lanka sputtered to a thrilling win in the Asia Cup opener
in Fatullah.
Pakistan lost their top order cheaply, surged, collapsed, then surged
briefly again, in search of 297, but the total that had been set up by
Thirimanne's 102 was 12 too many, despite half-centuries from
Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal.
Malinga's 5 for 52 was his first in ODIs since January 2012, as he
claimed the two last Pakistan scalps in an unflappable 49th over replete
with tailing yorkers. Bilawal Bhatti and Saeed Ajmal had managed 17
runs from the previous over to whittle the requirement down to 17 from
two overs, but Ajmal was caught in front by a yorker, and Bhatti had one
clatter into his off stump. Bhatti's wicket was Malinga's 250th, and he
achieved the milestone faster than any other Sri Lanka bowler, beating
Muttiah Muralitharan by 11 matches.
Pakistan had earlier seemed in control, with 55 needed off 46 balls and
six wickets in hand, thanks to the 121-run stand between Misbah and
Akmal. But Malinga was vital to quelling that charge too. He struck
twice in four balls in the 45th over, to swing the match strongly in Sri
Lanka's favour, before dismissing Umar Gul in his next. All of his
wickets came in his last 15 balls.
Thirimanne's 161-run stand, off 146 balls, with Kumar Sangakkara had
been the centrepiece of Sri Lanka's innings. Joined after a mediocre
start, the pair pushed the run rate close to six, promising a total well
in excess of 300, but a stutter in the batting Powerplay and a focused
Pakistan, led by Saeed Ajmal, in the late overs ensured they did not
finish with force.
Thirimanne, backed by the selectors to open instead of Mahela
Jayawardene, was fluent from the outset, and despite his strike rate of
92.72, was rarely ruled by aggression. A crisp cover drive off Gul
brought him his first boundary in the second over, and that stroke - his
favourite - would prove equally productive against spin. Casually
authoritative on the off side to begin with, Thirimanne eventually added
a leg side element to his play, even swinging Mohammad Hafeez over deep
midwicket for six, in the 31st over.
In between the sweetly struck fours, Thirimanne was also adept at
measuring singles. Aided by a surface that offered little seam movement
and appreciable turn, and by Sangakkara's enterprise at the other end,
he eased to his half-century in the 20th over, then launched an
offensive alongside the senior man after the 25th.
Crucially, for a batsman who has spent much of the past two months
sidelined with injury, Thirimanne was as stoic as he was confident. The
nineties drew no fidgets or hair-brained strokes. He flitted through
them, as he had done throughout his stay, to record his second
triple-figure score in ODIs. The milestone, fittingly, came from a cover
drive. The celebration, typically, was understated.
Though Thirimanne had modeled his strokes and approach on his senior
partner, Sangakkara had not been quite so mellow. Often he strode
forward against the quicks, making the length deliveries overpitched,
and his initiative became Sri Lanka's impetus. He hit 67 from 65 balls,
before thumping an Umar Gul bouncer to the only infielder on the leg
side.
Angelo Mathews embellished his regained stature as a finisher with an
unbeaten 55 off 50 balls, but he could not attack with much abandon at
the close, because he could not find a secure ally at the other end.
Ajmal's varied final spell was Sri Lanka's biggest hindrance. He
finished with 1 for 50 from his full quota, while Umar Gul, who
strangely only bowled eight overs, took 2 for 38.
Pakistan had fizzled to 121 for 4 in response, before a measured Misbah
and an impetuous Akmal fanned the embers of the chase, only to let it
grow cold when triumph was in sight.
There was little to separate this Misbah half-century from the dozens he
has scored in the past 14 months. A staccato of curt defensive prods
and opportunistic nurdles broken by startling, occasional blasts: a
whack over long-on off Thisara Perera and a slog over midwicket off
Sachithra Senanayake to go with three more legside boundary. His innings
could have ended at 44 when he gave a feather-edge off Suranga Lakmal,
but as the only giveaway to Misbah's indiscretion was one muffled, woody
note, the umpire was unmoved.
Akmal's progress was smoother, until he unleashed with ten overs
remaining, carting Suranga Lakmal for 16 before slamming two fours off
debutant left-arm spinner Chaturanga de Silva. Angelo Mathews bravely
kept Lakmal on and he was rewarded with an edge to the keeper that
sparked Pakistan's late stumble. When Misbah leathered Malinga to deep
square leg, it appeared Pakistan were all but done.
Lakmal had delivered four overs of accurate away-seam with the new ball,
claiming Sharjeel Khan's wicket, but though he dismissed Akmal, his
figures in the final overs suggested he has not yet developed a head for
death bowling. Senanayake and de Silva took one wicket apiece, and
Mathews himself took the key scalp of Mohammad Hafeez, who had been Sri
Lanka's primary tormentor during the bilateral series in December.