Asia Cup 2014 highlights: Lasith Malinga's fifer sinks Pakistan as Sri Lanka win by 12 runs

Sri Lanka began their Asia Cup campaign with a hard-fought 12-run win over defending champions Pakistan at Fatullah. Catch all the highlights here: (Scorecard | Commentary | Match Report)

09.50 (IST): So, that's a wrap on Day 1 of the Asia Cup. The tournament has started on a positive note as Sri Lanka and Pakistan fought it out till the end for a crucial win to begin their campaign with. Tomorrow, on Wednesday, hosts Bangladesh take on India in a fixture that could bring along better crowd to the stadium.

09.48 (IST): Angelo Mathews at the presentation ceremony: I  think we were 20 runs shot after the start from Sangakkara and Thirimanne. Fortunately we have been winning close games and it is nice to be on the winning side. Thirimanne is a great team man and he will bat wherever you want him to. Malinga is our best bowler for a long time. He delivers under pressure and he did it again.

 

09.47 (IST): Misbah-ul-Haq at the presentation ceremony: I think Umar Akmal batted very well with me . He played a really sensible knock today but that wasn't the time to get out. I think we could have done little better with the ball but we restricted them well towards the end. Wicket wasn't doing anything on the wicket. We should have chased this down.

 

09.38 (IST): Kumar Sangakkara: Thirimanne was exceptional with his ton. Mathews did very well with a fifty under pressure.

09.38 (IST): Kumar Sangakkara: We had Suranga Lakmal and Sachitra Senanayake for the final over so we brought back Malinga and he did the job.

09.37 (IST): Kumar Sangakkara: I think we were 15-20 runs short but we finished well I guess. Lahiru Thirimanne was exceptional with his ton and Angelo Mathews did very well with a fifty under pressure.

09.33 (IST): Lasith Malinga you beauty! Sixth fifer in ODIs for the Sri Lankan demolisher! He bowls an inch-perfect yorker to Bilawal Bhatti that brings a close to the Pakistan innings at 284 to give his side a 12-run victory. Great start for the Sri Lankans who fared well with the bat and had to hold on to their nerves against the likes of Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal to emerge victorious. As far as Pakistan are concerned, their worry remains to be their batting. Having contained Sri Lanka for under 300, they would have expected to begin their title defence with a win. However, Lasith Malinga had different plans altogether as he

09.28 (IST): OUT! Malinga gets four! He has trapped Saeed Ajmal in front of the stumps with an inswinging yorker. Pakistan 281/9 in 48.2 overs

09.24 (IST): 4,2,1,2,4,4 - 17 runs off the 48th over. Pakistan 280/8 in 48 overs, need 17 runs to win from 12 balls.

09.17 (IST): Third wicket for Malinga! He's showing why he is a dangerous bowler in the death. Change of pace and he induces a top-edge off Umar Gul's willow and Chaturanga completes the catch. Pakistan 262/8 in 46.5 overs, still need 35 off 19 balls.

09.10 (IST): Curtains for Pakistan? Misbah-ul-Haq has fallen now! Malinga has two wickets in three deliveries as Misbah hits one straight to Senanayake at deep square leg. Misbah has to take the long walk back to the pavilion after a solid knock of 73 from 84 balls. Pakistan are now on 254/7 in 45 overs, need 43 from 30 balls.

09.05 (IST): Oh boy! Another wicket! Shahid Afridi falls for four after hitting a ball from Malinga straight to Dinesh Chandimal at covers. Pakistan 252/6 in 44.4 overs, need 45 to win from 32 balls.

08.53 (IST): Umar Akmal is gone! That wicket has come against the run of play! He was looking set to take Pakistan all the way before he edged one off Lakmal to Sangakkara behind the stumps. Does this mean curtains for Pakistan's chase or can Misbah guide them to a win? We will have to wait and watch. Umar Akmal was dismissed after he scored an exceptional knock of 74 off 72 balls to bring the runs-balls remaining equation down to 55 runs to win from 45 balls. Pakistan 242/5 in 42.3 overs.

08.43 (IST): 18th ODI fifty for Umar Akmal! He gets it in 61 deliveries. Pakistan 220/4 in 40.3 overs.

08.24 (IST): 36th ODI fifty for Misbah-ul-Haq! What a time to turn up for the big man. Despite the fall of regular wickets that dented Pakistan's chase early on, captain Misbah took it upon himself to straighten the mess and keep his side alive. With Umar Akmal for company, he is on course to help his side clinch an entertaining victory. Pakistan 189/4 in 36 overs, need 108 runs to win from 84 balls.

08.20 (IST): Misbah (45) has now moved into the 40s and Akmal (37) too has some runs under his belt as Pakistan look set to take this game till the very end. It continues to remain in the balance at the moment as Pakistan reach 182/4 in 35 overs. Pakistan now need 115 runs to win from 90 deliveries.

08.00 (IST): Umar Akmal (16) and Misbah-ul-Haq (37) are keeping Pakistan alive here! They've taken the total to 152/4 in 30 overs, still needing 145 to win from 120 balls.

07.37 (IST): Oh dear! What a poor delivery to get out on! It was a half-tracker from Sachitra Senanayake, one to be smashed out of the ground but Sohaib Maqsood ended up hitting it straight to Chaturanga at  deep mid-wicket. Even Senanayake can only chuckle at the fact that he has managed to turn such a poor delivery into a wicket-taking one. Pakistan slip further, 121/4 in 23.3 overs.

07.18 (IST): 100 up for Pakistan! Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq goes down on one knee and hits Chaturanga for a four over deep mid-wicket. Pakistan need him to stay on for as long as possible if they are to chase down Sri Lanka's total. Pak 103/3 in 18.5 overs.

06.59 (IST): Skipper strikes! Angelo Mathews traps Mohammed Hafeez in front of the stumps. Pakistan are in trouble here. 83/3 in 13.3 overs.

06.53 (IST): Bowled 'em! Chaturanga de Silva has picked up his first ODI wicket! What a way to open his account in ODI cricket, as he gets the ball to go through the bat-pad gap offered by Ahmed Shehzad (28). Pakistan 77/2 in 12.3 overs.

06.43 (IST): Pakistan have reached 55/1 in 10 overs. After the fall of Sharjeel Khan, Ahmed Shehzad (22) and Mohammed Hafeez (6) have carried on. Shehzad in particular has been brave enough to open his arms and play his shots at every little opportunity.

06.21 (IST): There comes the first wicket! Sharjeel Khan is gone. No footwork from the left-hander as he tries to play a flat-batted pull shot. He connects but fails to keep it down and away from Angelo Mathews at mid-on. Suranga Lakmal gets the first wicket. Pakistan 28/1 in 6.1 overs.

 

06.15 (IST): Quite a slow start from Pakistan here. They reach 21/0 in 5 overs, with eight of them coming in the fifth over. Sharjeel Khan, the 23-year-old, looks far more comfortable than Ahmed Shehzad who is on 1 off 12 balls.

05.12 (IST): End of the innings! Sri Lanka reach 296/6 in 50 overs. Lahiru Thirimanne (102) and Kumar Sangakkara (67) set Sri Lanka up for a big total with a solid 161-run stand for the second wicket. Pakistan made their way back into the game by picking up regular wickets towards the end. Sri Lanka needed skipper Angelo Mathews to slam a 50-ball knock of 55 to take his side to 296/6. Pakistan will be happy to have restricted the Sri Lankans to under 300 but still have an uphill task of chasing down 296.

04.46 (IST): RUN OUT! Chaturanga de Silva is gone! It looks tough to keep Ahmed Shehzad out of the game here. He takes a shy at the stumps and forces a direct hit that finds the de Silva short of his ground. SL 251/6 in 43.3 overs.

04.39 (IST): Shahid Afridi strikes again! He has taken the crucial wicket of Thisara Perera. The big-hitting left-hander failed to clear Ahmed Shehzad at deep square leg. Pakistan are slowly making their way back into this game after Sri Lanka bossed the middle overs. SL 245/5 in 42.1 overs.

04.22 (IST): Shahid Afridi has a wicket now! He has cleaned up Mahela Jayawardene who was looking to attempt a cheeky late cut, played the ball onto his stumps. The ball hit the top of off-stump and Jayawardene was on his way back to the pavilion on 13 off 19 balls. Sri Lanka 224/4 in 38.5 overs. Big-hitting Thisara Perera walks out next to join skipper Mathews in the middle.

04.06 (IST): Saeed Ajmal strikes! He has foxed the centurion Lahiru Thirimanne to let the ball crash on to his off-stump. Thirimanne departs for a fluent knock of 102 from 110 balls. SL 204/3 in 35.2 overs.

03.59 (IST): Century! Lahiru Thirimanne gets his second ODI ton! It has been a brisk knock from the left-handed opener. He gets there off 107 balls. Sri Lanka 199/2 in 34 overs.

03.41 (IST): Massive, massive wicket there! Kumar Sangakkara has perished trying to pull an Umar Gul delivery. The ball goes straight to Ahmed Shehzad at mid-wicket and Sangakkara walks back to the pavilion for a well-made 67. SL 189/2 in 31.5 overs.

03.27 (IST): 84th ODI fifty for Kumar Sangakkara! What an absolute legend of the game he is. He gets there with a found through mid-wicket off Saeed Ajmal. That four also brings up 150 for Sri Lanka. SL 150/1 in 26.2 overs.

03.21 (IST): Misbah brings on both Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi but the Sangakkara and Thirimanne are cruising along very well. They have added 107 runs for the second wicket. SL 135/1 in 25 overs.

03.03 (IST): Lahiru Thirimanne brings up his seventh ODI fifty. He has looked far more comfortable in the company of senior pro Kumar Sangakkara and has played his shots at times. His essay of 50 from 56 balls include six boundaries. SL 101/1 in 19.2 overs.

02.40 (IST): Sangakkara and Thirimanne have started to rebuild the Sri Lankan innings. They've taken the score to 67/1 in 15 overs with Sangakkara on 18 and Thirimanne on 32. Sangakkara, in particular, has looked positive from the time he walked out to bat. Pakistan need another wicket to keep the momentum on their side.

02.38 (IST): FACTOID: Mahela Jayawardene becomes only the second player after Sachin Tendulkar to make 600 international appearances. (143 Tests, 49 T20s, 407 ODIs)

02.21 (IST): FACTOID: Before the start of the innings, Kumar Sangakkara was on 833 runs in Asia Cup, 138 away from Sachin Tendulkar's tally (971 runs).

02.16 (IST): It has been a tough start for Sri Lanka. They've managed 41 runs for the loss of one wicket in the first 10 overs. Kumar Sangakkara (4) walked out at the fall of the wicket and started off with a glorious cover drive. Lahiru Thirimanne too moved on to 20 off 29 balls.

02.04 (IST): First breakthrough for Pakistan here! Exactly what Misbah would've wanted. Left-handed Kusal Perera edges one to wicketkeeper Umar Akmal off the bowling of Umar Gul. Sri Lanka 28/1 in 7.3 overs.

01.57 (IST): Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq said at the toss that he wasn't sure how the wicket would behave but expected it to be on the slower side. He will want his bowlers to get a breakthrough as soon as possible rather than just containing the runs.

01.53 (IST): It has been a cautious start from Sri Lanka so far. Both openers -- Lahiru Thirimanne and Kusal Perera -- have not looked to play the big shots. They have slowly dragged the score along to 17/0 in 5 overs.

 

01.35 (IST): The game goes underway as Misbah-ul-Haq throws the ball to off-spinner Mohammed Hafeez to open the bowling.

01.19 (IST): Sri Lanka: Kushal Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews (c), P de Silva, Thisara Perera, Sachitra Senanayake, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal

 

01.18 (IST): Pakistan: Sharjeel Khan, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Sohaib Maqsood, Misbah-ul-Haq (c), Umar Akmal (wk), Shahid Afridi, Bilawal Bhatti, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan

01.10 (IST): FACTOID: Sanath Jayasuriya (1220 runs), Sachin Tendulkar (971 runs) and Kumar Sangakkara (827 runs) -- the three stalwarts are the top three scorers in the history of the Asia Cup.

 

01.06 (IST): Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews wins toss, elects to bat first.

 

 

PREVIEW

 

Pakistan are determined to defend their trophy, but Sri Lanka's captain Angelo Mathews remains optimistic as the two cricket giants face off in the opening match of the five-nation Asia Cup on Tuesday, in the run-up to the Twenty20 World Cup.

Pakistan, who won the title in 2012, are aiming to put pressure on their opponents with a team balancing experienced players and newcomers.

Both teams are focusing not just on the opening match but on the whole tournament. (Read more)