Fatullah: Speedster Lasith Malinga's brilliant five-wicket haul under pressure and opener Lahiru Thirimanne's second ODI century helped Sri Lanka script a thrilling 12-run win over Pakistan in a nail-biting opening match of the Asia Cup cricket tournament on Tuesday. Malinga produced a sensational spell of death bowling, picking up key wickets at crucial junctures, to ensure the win for his side with seven balls to spare at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium. Chasing an impsoing 297 for victory, Pakistan were on course for a remarkable victory before Malinga came up with a fiery spell to bowl out the 'Men in Green' for 284 in 48.5 overs.
Malinga first sent back danger man Shahid Afridi (4) and well-settled skipper Misbah-ul-Haq (73) in a span of three deliveries in his eighth over before returning back to dismiss Saeed Ajmal (10) and Bilawal Bhatti (18) in his final over to finish with figures of 5 for 52. Earlier, Thirimanne struck a fine 110-ball 102 to power Sri Lanka to a challenging 296 for six. Thirimanne hit 11 fours and a six in his innings and starred in a 161-run stand with Kumar Sangakkara (67) for the second wicket to lay the foundation for a huge score. Pakistan tried to make a comeback in the middle overs as they picked up a few wickets, before skipper Angelo Matthews provided the late charge, cracking a 50-ball 55, to take Sri Lanka close to the 300-mark.
Pakistan failed to build partnerships at the top during their run chase as they lost their first four wickets for 121 before Misbah and Umar Akmal (74) led a sensational fightback with attacking fifties. Both added 121 runs for the fifth-wicket partnership to bring Pakistan back into the game but Malinga held his nerves and produced a match-winning spell to grab full points for his team. Pakistan started their run chase on an attacking note, with opener Sharjeel Khan picking up quite a few boundaries before being dismissed by medium pacer Suranga Lakmal for 26. Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez led their team's recovery with a 49-run stand for the second wicket but Sri Lanka fought back with quick strikes as Pakistan slipped to 83 for three inside 14 overs.
While Shehzad was cleaned up by left-arm spinner Chaturanga de Silva for 28, Hafeez was trapped in front of the wickets for 18 by Angelo Mathews. Misbah and Sohaib Maqsood (17) steadied Pakistan with their cautious approach as they reached 121 for three before spinner Sachithra Senanayake got the latter caught at deep midwicket by Chaturanga de Silva. With six wickets in hand and still requiring 175 runs to win, Pakistan looked in all sorts of trouble with their innings in complete disarray. But the pair of wicketkeeper-batsman Akmal and Misbah combined well and launched a counter offensive against the Lankans to regain the lost ground. Both played aggressively and treated the loose deliveries with disdain to take Pakistan to 240 for 4, requiring 57 off 48 balls.
Lakmal returned to scalp the prized wicket of Akmal, who couldn't stop himself as he went for a massive drive on the up but only managed an outside edge to keeper Sangakkara. Akmal's 72-ball stay at the crease was decorated with seven fours and three sixes. Pakistan lost the plot after that and could not recover from the jolt as they lost the last five wickets for just 43 runs. Misbah also ran out of his patience and was dismissed for 73 (84 balls, 4x4, 2x6) by Malinga. Earlier, electing to bat, Sri Lanka made a watchful start before opener Kusal Perera (14) edged an Umar Gul delivery straight to Umar Akmal behind the stumps in the eighth over to slip to 28 for one. However, Thirimanne continued his good run and notched up his fifty off 56 balls in the 20th over, his first half-century since last July.
