Malinga, Thirimanne star in SL win

Feb 25, 2014

Sri Lanka chose to bat in the Asia Cup opener against Pakistan and made a cautious start, before Umar Gul dismissed Kusal Perera for 14•Associated Press

Thirimanne, who opened for the third time in ODIs, played a calm innings. He had a 161-run stand with Sangakkara•AFP

But Angelo Mathews struck an unbeaten 50-ball 55 to lift his side to 296 for 6•AFP

Once Mohammad Hafeez was out for 18, Misbah-ul-Haq steadied the Pakistan innings, sharing a 38-run partnership with Sohaib Maqsood•Associated Press

Misbah and Akmal added 121 runs for the fifth wicket, and by the start of the 43rd over, Pakistan needed 57 off 48 balls. Lakmal, however, brought SL back into the game, dismissing Akmal for 74•AFP

There was still some life in the Pakistan chase, however. Saeed Ajmal and Bilawal Bhatti brought the equation down to 17 off 12 balls before another double-wicket over from Malinga gave Sri Lanka a 12-run win. Malinga finished with 5 for 52, his sixth ODI five-for•AFP

Kumar Sangakkara, in rich form, came to the crease and consolidated Sri Lanka's position along with Lahiru Thirimanne•AFP

Thirimanne got to his second ODI hundred off 107 balls but was bowled by Saeed Ajmal soon after reaching the landmark•AFP

Pakistan made a sprightly start, scoring 28 in six overs. Suranga Lakmal provided Sri Lanka the first breakthrough when he dismissed Sharjeel Khan•Associated Press

Sachithra Senanayake, however, pulled things back for Sri Lanka. He had the batsman holing out to midwicket•Associated Press

Lasith Malinga turned the match in the 45th over with two big wickets. Shahid Afridi slapped the ball straight to Chandimal at short cover•AFP

Shahid Afridi then dismissed Mahela Jayawardene and Thisara Perera quickly to give Pakistan a chance of containing Sri Lanka's total•Associated Press

Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez added 49 runs for the second wicket but the partnership was broken by debutant Chaturanga de Silva, who bowled Shehzad for 28•AFP

Umar Akmal was cautious at the start, scoring 7 off 20 balls, but opened up with a six off Angelo Mathews. He was particularly dismissive of Suranga Lakmal, taking 29 runs off 16 balls from the bowler•AFP

And two balls later, Sri Lanka had the wicket of Misbah-ul-Haq, who was caught at deep square leg•AFP