Published on 12:00 AM, August 02, 2015

Pakistan win T20s too

Sri Lanka opener Kusal Perera (L) is bowled by Pakistan's Shoaib Malik (not in picture) during the second T20I at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Saturday. PHOTO: AFP

Shahid Afridi and Anwar Ali played key roles as Pakistan ended a successful tour of Sri Lanka with a thrilling one-wicket victory in the second Twenty20 International in Colombo on Saturday.

Pakistan recovered from 40 for 5 in the eighth over to surpass Sri Lanka's challenging 172 for 7 with four balls to spare with Imad Wasim striking the winning six off left-arm seamer Binura Fernando.

Skipper Afridi led the way with a 22-ball 45 that included four sixes and a boundary, before Anwar smashed 46 off 17 balls in a match-winning knock that contained four sixes and three fours.

Imad, who remained unbeaten on 24, helped Anwar add 58 for the eighth wicket as the tourists recorded a heart-stopping win in front of a sell-out crowd of 35,000 at the Premadasa stadium that briefly included Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena.

Pakistan, who won the first T20 match by 29 runs on Thursday, completed a remarkable treble on the six-week tour, having earlier won the Test series 2-1 and the one-dayers 3-2.

Fernando, a lean 20-year-old playing only his second international match, gave Sri Lanka a flying start with a double strike in his second over.

But Afridi began the amazing turnaround with a sixth-wicket stand of 61 with Mohammad Rizwan (17) as the inexperienced Sri Lankan attack wilted under pressure.

Earlier, aggressive batting by debutant Shehan Jayasuriya and the recalled Kapugedera lifted Sri Lanka to 172-7 after skipper Lasith Malinga won the toss and elected to bat in the day-night match.

Jayasuriya, a 23-year-old left-hander unrelated to Sri Lanka's former captain Sanath Jayasuriya, smashed three fours and two sixes in his 32-ball 40 before he was fifth out. 

SCORES IN BRIEF
SRI LANKA: 172 for 7 in 20 overs (K Perera 19, Dilshan 10, Jayasuriya 40, De Silva 14, Siriwardana 23, Kapugedera 48 not out; Anwar 1-40, Tanvir 1-44, Malik 2-16, Irfan 1-31, Afridi 1-30)
PAKISTAN: 174 for 9 in 19.2 overs (Hafeez 11, Rizwan 17, Afridi 45, Imad 24 not out, Anwar 46; Fernando 2-33, Siriwardana 1-17, Malinga 1-40)
Result: Pakistan won by 1 wicket and clinched the 2-match series 2-0.
Player-of-the-match: Anwar Ali.