Asia Cup final, highlights: Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 5 wickets, clinch Asia Cup title

Sri Lanka clinch fifth Asia Cup title with five-wicket win over Pakistan at Mirpur. Follow highlights of the match here: (Live Scorecard | Text Commentary | Final Report)

21.49 (IST): Angelo Mathews: We wanted to break the barrier between us and the final and I am glad we won in the end.It's a big victory for the entire team. We haven't won a major title for a long time.Lasith Malinga gave as us a brilliant start and our run chase was brilliant.

21.47 (IST): Misbah-ul-Haq: We were under pressure after losing 3 wickets early. We came back well but were 20-30 runs. We were not disciplined enough with the ball. We were leaking runs and not getting enough wickets. Our batting has been the positive for us. Shehzad, Fawad Alam, Afridi and Hafeez played well. We have good chance in World T20 because a lot of our players are in good form.

21.47 (IST): Lahiru Thirimanne: I wanted to play the anchor role. We knew 260 was gettable if one batsman stays on.I wanted to play the anchor role. We knew 260 was gettable if one batsman stays on.

 

21.24 (IST): What a clinical performance from Angelo Mathews' Sri Lanka. This is their first Asia Cup title victory since 2008. They've been in the final a lot in the recent past but haven't been able to put in that one big performance. But, they've been exceptional throughout the series and deserved winners.

21.18 (IST): Its all over! Sri Lanka have beaten Pakistan by 5 wickets to win their fifth Asia Cup title!

21.10 (IST): Sri Lanka reach 248/5 in 45 overs, need 13 runs off 30 balls.

21.07 (IST): Saeed Ajmal's delivery goes straight through Thirimanne! The centurion is gone for 101 but he may have just done enough. Sri Lanka 247/5 in 44.1 overs.

 

21.03 (IST): Lahiru Thirimanne slams third ODI ton. Its his second in the Asia Cup and second vs Pakistan. It has come in 106 balls. Sri Lanka 245/4 in 43.4 overs.

20.54 (IST): Ashan Priyanjan is gone! Soft dismissal as he nudges a Junaid delivery and Umar Akmal takes a good catch behind the stumps. Sri Lanka 233/4 in 41.4 overs, 28 to win from 50 balls.

20.51 (IST): Sri Lanka reach 229/3 in 41 overs, need 32 runs to winfrom 9 overs. Thiriammne (96), Priyanjan (9) in the middle.

 

20.35 (IST): Mahela Jayawardene is gone! Final twist in the tale? A leading edge off Jayawardene's bat is taken by Sharjeel Khan off Mohammad Talha. Lanka 212/3 in 37.2 overs.

20.25 (IST): Spectacular from Mahela! He makes room and pierces the off-side field to bring up the 200 for Sri Lanka. The fielders didn't have to move as the ball ran away to the extra cover fence. Sri Lanka 202/2 in 35.4 overs.

20.21 (IST): Mohammad Talha is back into the attack with Jayawardene (60) and Thirimanne (85) in the middle. Sri Lanka 193/2 in 35 overs, need 68 to win from 90 balls.

 

20.13 (IST): Jayawardene cuts Gul behind point to reach his 71st ODI half-century off 76 balls. It is his seventh vs Pakistan. Sri Lanka 184/2 in 33.1 overs

20.10 (IST): The last 50-plus score by Mahela Jayawardene came vs India at Kingston in July 2013. He scored 107 back then in the tri-series also involving the West Indies.

20.02 (IST): Lahiru Thirimanne and Umar Gul in an altercation here! Umar Gul finished his run up and gave Thirimanne a glare which the latter clearly did not appreciate. A few words were exchanged and they squared up against each other before Jayawardene intervened. Sri Lanka 174/2 in 34 overs.

19.56 (IST): Shahid Afridi returns to the attack as Sri Lanka reach 164/2 in 30 overs, need 97 to win from 120 balls. Thirimanne is going splendidly at run-a-ball with 72 off 72 while Jayawardene, the big match player, is closing in on his 71st half-century.

19.45 (IST): 100-run stand between Lahiru Thirimanne (70) and Mahela Jayawardene (42) for the third wicket. Sri Lanka 157/2 in 27.2 overs.

19.38 (IST): Misbah turns to his wicket-taker Saeed Ajmal. A wicket will do wonders for Pakistan's chances of pulling things back here. Jayawardene, who has been in shambolic form in the recent past, has left that behind and moved on to 40 off just 55 balls. This is the stuff champion players are made of.

19.33 (IST): Sri Lanka have managed 145/2 at the halfway stage. They need 116 runs to win from the remaining 150 balls.

19.19 (IST): Seventh ODI fifty for Lahiru Thirimanne! It has come in 51 balls. Sri Lanka 127/2 in 22.2 overs.

19.08 (IST): Mahela Jayawardene (26) and Lahiru Thirimanne (37) take Sri Lanka to in 20 overs, need 156 to win from 30 overs.

18.49 (IST): Sri Lanka reach 80/2 in 15 overs with Jayawardene (6) and Thirimanne (32) in the middle . The batsmen need to be smart enough to

18.42 (IST): Mohammad Talha comes into the attack now. Sri Lanka 68/2 in 13 overs.

18.30 (IST): Double strike for Saeed Ajmal! He has dismissed Kusal Perera and Kumar Sangakkara in two deliveries. First Perera was foxed into coming down the track and was stumped by Umar Akmal and then Ajmal slid a quicker one through to trap Kumar Sangakkara in front of the stumps first ball to be on a hat-trick.

18.25 (IST): Oh dear! What has Sharjeel Khan done! K Perera pulled Junaid Khan and Sharjeel Khan took the catch but failed to judge how far away from the rope he was. He ended up stepping on it and giving Perera a six.

18.12 (IST): Kusal Perera is in sublime stroke-making form today. He already has five fours in his 28 so far. Sri Lanka 40/0 in 7 overs.

18.05 (IST): Sri Lanka have had a stroke-filled start so far. They've managed 35/0 in 6 overs.

18.00 (IST): More width from Gul! Thirimanne cuts and the leading edge flies over first slip to the third man fence. This is a good start for the Sri Lankans, 22/0 in 3.5 overs.

17.59 (IST): Poor bowling from Umar Gul here. He has bowled a few length deliveries, giving the batsmen room outside the off-stump. In this case, Thirimanne cuts behind point for four. Lanka 18/0 in 3.1 overs.

17.55 (IST): Oh dear! Ahmed Shehzad seems to have hurt himself there! A good diving effort from him at point but he was flinching in pain holding his wrist. He has gone off the field. Lanka 7/0 in 2 overs.

17.51 (IST): Shot! Kusal Perera leans into an Umar Gul delivery and plays a gloriously-timed drive through the offside off Umar Gul. Sri Lanka 5/0 in 1.1 overs.

 

17.24 (IST): The day so far belongs to two men -- Lasith Malinga and Fawad Alam. Malinga rocked the Pakistan top-order early on and it took a special effort from Misbah-ul-Haq and Fawad Alam to script a comeback trail. Once Misbah was dismissed by Malinga, it was upto Fawad to carry on and take his side to a good total. He did just that, teaming up with Umar Akmal (59) for the fifth wicket, amassing 115 runs in just 78 balls. Fawad rode his luck and got to his maiden ton with a big six. Malinga returned and picked up yet another wicket to claim his 7th ODI five-wicket haul. He finished with figures of five for 56.

 

 

17.18 (IST): Fawad Alam: We were in trouble early on and Misbah-ul-Haq told me to stay on as long as possible and even 220-230 will be a good total. With Umar Akmal, the plan was to play a few shots in the powerplay overs.

 

17.16 (IST): Pakistan finish with 260/5 in 50 overs.

 

17.09 (IST): Fifer for Malinga! Umar Akmal is gone, caught by Mahela Jayawardene. Akmal was looking to play another aggressive stroke but a leading edge was well taken by Jayawardene at third man. Pakistan 255/5 in 49.4 overs.

17.06 (IST): Nineteenth ODI fifty for Umar Akmal. He has taken just 35 balls for it. Pakistan 239/4 in 47.5 overs.

17.03 (IST): Maiden ODI ton for Fawad Alam! He gets it with a big six off Thisara Perera. It has taken him 126 deliveries. Pakistan 232/4 in 47.1 overs.

17.01 (IST): Expensive over from Malinga as Umar Akmal smashes two back-to-back fours. Fifteen runs

16.57 (IST): Dropped! Chathuranga de Silva has put down an easy chance at covers. Fawad Alam gets a reprieve and Malinga still has only four wickets. Pakistan 212/4 in 46.1 overs.

16.49 (IST): Lasith Malinga is having a field day. Exceptional bowling in the death, 12 runs in 2 overs. Pakistan 202/4 in 45 overs.

16.36 (IST): Fawad Alam has reached his highest ODI score of 78 and looks set to score his first ODI ton. Pakistan 181/4 in 41.5 overs.

16.25 (IST): Back-to-back fours for Umar Akmal off Thisara Perera. Pakistan need a few of those shots in the final overs. Pakistan 168/4 in 40.2 overs.

16.10 (IST): Misbah is gone! Oh dear, what a big blow for the defending champions! It's Malinga again! Misbah took the aerial route but failed to clear Kusal Perera at long on. Pakistan 140/4 in 36.4 overs.

16.04 (IST): Both Misbah-ul-Haq and Fawad Alam are taking the aerial route here. Misbah clobbers Senanayake over deep mid-wicket for a six. Pakistan 137/3 in 35.5 overs.

15.56 (IST): Suranga Lakmal returns to the attack an over before the batting powerplay. He bowls a wonderful inswinging yorker to Misbah and goes up in a big appeal.  Pakistan 124/3 in 34.1 overs.

15.50 (IST): Sixth ODI fifty for Fawad Alam. He has carried forward his form from the previous game where he scored a half-century. It has taken him 91 balls today. Pakistan 121/3 in 33.2 overs.

15.38 (IST): 37th ODI fifty for Misbah-ul-Haq! The skipper is leading by example as he gets his knock in 78 balls to begin Pakistan's rebuilding process. Pakistan 106/3 in 30.1 overs.

15.20 (IST): Both Misbah and Fawad have moved into the 30s. Pakistan need them to stay at the wicket for as long as possible if they're to fully recover from the early strikes. Pakistan 81/3 in 25 overs.

15.11 (IST): Fifty-run stand between Misbah-ul-Haq (27) and Fawad Alam (26) for the fourth wicket comes up. Pakistan 71/3 in 22.1 overs.

15.04 (IST): Big appeal for caught behind there! Kumar Sangakkara is certain that Misbah-ul-Haq nicked the Mathews' delivery while trying to guide it down to third man but umpire Bruce Oxenford disagrees. Misbah survives and is lucky to do so as the replay suggested that there was a faint nick. Pakistan 57/3 in 20.3 overs.

14.54 (IST): Fifty up for Pakistan! It has taken them 18 overs to get there. Misbah-ul-Haq (16) and Fawad Alam (17) are in the middle.

14.41 (IST): Misbah-ul-Haq (10 off 29 balls) and Fawad Alam (13 off 35 balls) are slowly dragging Pakistan out of the early misery caused by Lasith Malinga. 40/3 in 15 overs.

14.34 (IST): FACTOID: Pakistan's Fawad Alam, who is currently battling it out alongside Misbah-ul-Haq, has an average of 55.87, the best for a Pakistan batsman.

14.29 (IST): After Thisara Perera started off with a maiden over, Angelo Mathews brings himself on in place of Sachitra Senanayake. Pakistan 37/3 in 12 overs.

14.21 (IST): Pakistan have limped to 28/3 in 10 overs.

14.17 (IST): Lasith Malinga has six fifers in ODIs, with the last one coming against Pakistan in the opening game of the Asia Cup. He already has three wickets today. Can he bag his seventh fifer?

14.14 (IST): Sachitra Senanayake comes into the attack now. It will be interesting to see how Fawad Alam deals with him, especially when he comes round the wicket. Pakistan 20/3 in 8 overs.

14.11 (IST): FACTOID: Lasith Malinga has picked up 8 wickets for 21 runs in his last two ODI games vs Pakistan.

14.02 (IST): While Malinga is striking all the right chords, Suranga Lakmal at the other end is doing a fine job of bowling tight and not allowing the batsmen to breathe easy. He has got the ball to swing both ways consistently, leaving the batsmen clueless on most occasions. Pakistan have had a disastrous start here, 19/3 in 6 overs.

13.55 (IST):  Malinga is on a roll here! He gets his third scalp! Mohammed Hafeez is gone for three, caught behind by Sangakkara. Pakistan are 18/3 in 4.3 overs.

13.50 (IST): Lasith Malinga strikes again! He has forced Shehzad to play away from the body and an outside edge carried straight to Kumar Sangakkara behind the stumps.  Pakistan 17/2 in 3 overs.

13.39 (IST): Suranga Lakmal starts off from the other end. Ahmed Shehzad too gets off the mark with a four. He cuts Lakmal behind point. Pakistan 12/1 in 1.3 overs.

 

13.37 (IST): Two fours and a wicket! What a dramatic start to the final! Sharjeel Khan is gone after scoring two good boundaries through the off-side. He tries to flick one and the in-swinging ball leads Sharjeel to play one straight to Thisara Perera at mid-wicket. Pakistan 8/1 in 1 over.

13.32 (IST): Sharjeel Khan begins with a four! Its a length delivery from Malinga and Sharjeel punches the ball off the backfoot through the off-side to the fence. Pakistan 4/0 in 0.1 overs.

13.20 (IST): Pakistan: Sharjeel Khan, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Fawad Alam, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Talha, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan 

13.18 (IST): Sri Lanka:

13.17 (IST): Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara has played in 26 finals for his side but hasn't scored a ton. Can he change that trend today?

13.07 (IST): Pakistan have brought in Junaid Khan and Sharjeel Khan in place of Sohaib Maqsood and Abdur Rahman.

13.04 (IST): Pakistan win toss, elect to bat against Sri Lanka in the final of the Asia Cup at Mirpur. Sri Lanka have made a bold change, dropping Ajantha Mendis for Lasith Malinga.

12.52 (IST): FACTOID: Sri Lanka have made it to six finals of major tournaments since 2007: ICC World Cup 2007, World T20 2009, ICC World Cup 2011, Asia Cup 2010, World T20 2012 and Asia Cup 2014. Can they finish as winners finally? We will have to wait and see.

 

It's Afridi vs Sangakkara in Asia Cup final

Rampaging Shahid Afridi and prolific Kumar Sangakkara have set the stage for a rousing contest when Pakistan face Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup one-day final in Dhaka today. Angelo Mathews' Sri Lanka have been the dominant team in the five-nation event with four straight victories in the league, including a 12-run win over Pakistan in the tournament opener on February 25.

The charge was led by Sangakkara, the 36-year-old left-hander who has been in prime form during his team's current tour of Bangladesh which began with a bilateral series in January. Sangakkara scored 75, 319 and 105 in two Test matches and 128 in the second one-day international to steer Sri Lanka to series wins in all three formats against the hosts.

The veteran has also played three match-winning innings in the Asia Cup, making 67 against Pakistan, 103 versus World Cup champions India and 76 against minnows Afghanistan. He remains the leading scorer in the tournament with 248 runs despite falling cheaply for two in Thursday's last league match against Bangladesh. (Read more)

Not bothered by Afridi's form: Malinga

The Asia Cup final between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Mirpur (Dhaka) on Saturday will see a 'personal' clash between two mavericks of the game - Lasith Malinga and Shahid Afridi. Game changers on their day, Malinga, however, is not letting the big-hitting Afridi psyche him out. Instead, the Lankan pacer is breaking extra sweat at the nets honing his dreaded yorkers.

Malinga made a stunning start to this year's Asia Cup competition. His five for 52 knocked off the Pakistan middle and lower order as Sri Lanka won the opening match by 12 runs. Malinga has always been skipper Angelo Mathews' go-to man but the Lankan quickie, who has quit Test cricket, failed to fire his deadly accurate toe-crushing deliveries in the last two games. (Read more)

Pakistan sweat over Afridi, Umar Gul's fitness

Injury setbacks are threatening to hamper defending champions Pakistan's chances but skipper Misbah-ul Haq on Friday said his team's morale is so high that last-minute changes would not make much of a difference to it in the Asia Cup summit clash against Sri Lanka here on Saturday.

In-form senior all-rounder Shahid Afridi is among the four Pakistani players nursing injuries right now -- the other three being the opening duo of Sharjeel Khan and Ahmed Shehzad and pacer Umar Gul. "At the moment he (Afridi) is really playing well. The kind of impact he is creating on the opposition and his own team, he should play for us. These injuries are part and parcel of the game," Misbah told reporters. (Read more)

Mathews hopes 'big-match player' Jayawardene fires

Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews on Friday threw his weight behind an out-of-form Mahela Jayawardene and expressed confidence that the veteran batsman would deliver the goods in the Asia Cup summit showdown against Pakistan in Mirpur on Saturday. "I am confident he will come out tomorrow and take the Pakistani attack apart. I wish him all the best. I'm sure he'll deliver for us," Mathews told reporters at the pre-match press conference.

Coming back from a finger injury, the former Lankan captain has managed just 36 runs from four outings. "We know he's a world class player. I believe he's a big-match player," Mathews said. (Read more)