Dhaka: Lahiru Thirimanne timed his second hundred of the Asia Cup to perfection as Sri Lanka beat Pakistan in the final and won the Asia Cup. Chasing 261 to win the final, Sri Lanka were 2 down for 56. But Jayawardene joined Thirimanne and these two added 156 runs together. By the time, Thirimanne got out, Sri Lanka required only 14 runs to beat Pakistan which they scored without too much trouble.
The duo of Jayawardene and Thirimanne continued to frustrate Pakistan bowlers as Sri Lanka crossed 200–run mark in 36 overs.
Lahiru Thirimanne and Mahela Jayawardene defied Pakistan bowling attack by adding 89 runs in 14.4 overs after the fall of Sangakara’s wicket. Sri Lanka still need 116 runs in 25 overs to win this game and the Asia Cup
Chasing 261 runs, Sri Lanka lost 2 wickets by the end of 15 overs. Saeed Ajmal, in his second over struck twice to dismiss Kusal Perera an in form Kumar Sangakara.
Fawad Alam’s hundred and Umar Akmal’s quick fire fifty helped Pakistan to put 260 runs on the board. Pakistan scored 101 runs in last 10 overs. Pakistan were in trouble follwoing Malinga’s early burst in first 10 overs. But after that, Misbah and Fawad steadied the ship. Following Misbah’s wicket in the powerplay, Umar Akmal and Fawad Alam added 115 runs in 13 overs.
Malinga’s introduction in the powerplay helped Sri Lanka to break Misbah-Fawad partnership. Misbah was caught in the deep by Thisara Perera as he wa s trying to up the run rate.
The pair of Misbah-ul-Haq and Fawad Alam put up a 50-plus run partnership after the initial tumble in the Pakistan inning. The score-rate was slow, but these two made sure Pakistan did not lose any wickets.
Pakistan were resticted to 28 for 3 in first 10 overs as Malinga rattled their top order. Malinga bowled 4 overs in his opening spell conceeding 13 runs and taking 3 Pakistan wickets.
All-rounder Shahid Afridi was declared fit as Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat in the final of the Asia Cup against Sri Lanka in Dhaka on Saturday.
Pakistan, defending the title, made two changes as left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman and batsman Sohaib Maqsood were left out. In comes opener Sharjeel Khan and paceman Junaid Khan.
Pakistan had fitness worries over Afridi (hip) and Ahmed Shehzad (shoulder) but both passed fitness test ahead of the match.
Sri Lanka left out spinner Ajantha Mendis who made way for paceman Lasith Malinga. Sri Lanka have an impressive record of winning the title four times and have been runners-up on six occasions. They won all the four matches in this tournament.
SCOREBOARD
Pakistan: S. Khan c Thisara b Malinga 8, A. Shehzad c Sangakkara b Malinga 5, M. Hafeez c Sangakkara b Malinga 3, Misbah-ul Haq c Perera b Malinga 65, F. Alam (not out) 114, U. Akmal c b Malinga 59, S. Afridi (not out) 0. Extras: (lb1, w5) 6. Total (for five wkts in 50 overs) 260.
FoW: 1-8, 2-17, 3-18, 4-140, 5-255.
Bowling: Malinga 10-0-56-5, Lakmal 10-2-41-0, Senanayake 9-0-54-0, Thisara 10-1-66-0, Mathews 7-1-23-0, de Silva 4-0-19-0.
Sri Lanka: K. Perera st Akmal b Ajmal 42, L. Thirimanne b Ajmal 101, K. Sangakkara lbw b Ajmal 0, M. Jayawardene c Sharjeel b Talha 75, A. Priyanjan c Akmal b Khan 13, A. Mathews (not out) 16, C. de Silva (not out) 6. Extras: (b1, lb1, nb1, w5) 8. Total (for five wkts in 46.2 overs) 261.
FoW: 1-56, 2-56, 3-212, 4-233, 5-247.
Bowling: Hafeez 9-0-42-0, Gul 6-0-44-0, Khan 9-0-56-1, Ajmal 10-2-26-3, Talha 6.2-0-56-1, Afridi 6-0-35-0.
