Bad commence for champs
Sri Lanka won by 12 runs
Man of the Match Lasith Malinga (52/5)
Pakistan 284 (48.5 ov) & Sri Lanka 296/6 (50 ov)
Defending champion Pakistan lost the inaugural match of Asia Cup 2014 against Sri Lanka by 12 runs at Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah, Narayanganj today.
Chasing a target of 296 runs, Pakistan missed the victory by the narrow margin.
Lankan speed demon Lasith Malinga’s five-wicket haul alone devastated the Pak innings while other seamer Suranga Lakmal picked up two wickets.
Malinga was awarded the Man of the Match for his extra-ordinary bowling performance.
Fifth-wicket partnership of 121 runs between Pak skipper Misbah-ul Haq and Umar Akmal created a heavy resistance against the Lankan bowling.
Misbah scored 73 runs off 84 balls decorated with four boundaries and couple of over boundaries.
Meanwhile, Akmal scored 74 runs off 72 deliveries with seven fours and three sixes.
Earlier, the Lankans scored 296 runs off 50 overs at a run rate of 5.92.
A strong second-wicket partnership of 161 runs between opener Lahiru Thirimanne and first down ace batsman Kumar Sangakkara helped the Lankans’ innings to reach to the handsome mark.
Thirimanne scored 102 runs off 110 balls, decorated with 11 fours and a six while Sanga added 67 runs off 65 deliveries to the board with eight magnificent ground-biting roll-offs.
Matthews along with lower-down Dinesh Chandimal added 45 runs on the seventh-wicket partnership.
Matthews slogged and remained unbeaten with personal 55 runs off only 50 deliveries with five boundaries and one six.
Pakistan fast bowler Umar Gul and ace leg spinner Shahid Afridi picked up two wickets each for 38 and 56 runs respectively.
Meanwhile, off-break spinner Saeed Ajmal picked up another wicket for 50 runs.
Earlier, Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat in the inaugural match of the Asian cricket muscles' tournament.
Lankans entered the match with high confidence level as they bagged series victories over Bangladesh in all three formats of the game while Pakistan is looking to emulate the 3-2 result of the last ODI series against the Lankans.
Chaturanga de Silva for Sri Lanka was debuted in his first ODI today.
The Asia Cup -- the battle for Asian supremacy -- is all set to get the attention it deserves as a high-profile tournament as Bangladesh has proven successful organisers of multi-national tournaments on many occasions, and the success has been fuelled by the passion this country has for the sport.
SQUADS
Pakistan
Sharjeel Khan, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Sohaib Maqsood, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Bilawal Bhatti, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal and Junaid Khan
Sri Lanka
MDKJ Perera, HDRL Thirimanne, KC Sangakkara, DPMD Jayawardene, LD Chandimal, AD Mathews, PC de Silva, NLTC Perera, SMSM Senanayake, SL Malinga and RAS Lakmal
Comments