Lahiru Thirimanne pivotal to Sri Lanka’s Asian Cup victory
Opener knocks strategic 101 to defeat Pakistan by five wickets in final
Left-handed opener Lahiru Thirimanne struck a well-paced 101 as Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan by five wickets in the final of the Asia Cup on Saturday.
Thirimanne added 156 for the third wicket with Mahela Jayawardene (75) as Sri Lanka scored 261-5 in 46.2 overs after pace bowler Lasith Malinga’s haul of 5-56 had helped restrict Pakistan to 260-5.
The 24-year-old left-handed batsman and Malinga had also starred in Sri Lanka’s 12-run win over Pakistan earlier in the league. Thirimanne scored 102 in that game, while Malinga had bagged 5-52.
I wanted to bat through the innings today because 260 is a gettable total, but we needed someone to hang in there
Thirimanne started cautiously but dominated the bowling with some clever placements behind the wicket.
He struck 13 fours off 108 balls and set up the platform for Sri Lanka’s fifth Asia Cup title along with Jayawardene, who got his first half century in 13 ODI innings.
Jayawardene, who struck nine fours and one six off 93 balls, was lucky to be dropped by Mohammad Hafeez at the cover boundary off Umar Gul when on 52.
Thirimanne and Jayawardene came together at a tricky time as Saeed Ajmal had just pegged the team back with a twin blow when Sri Lanka was cruising along at 56-0 in 10 overs.
The off-spinner foxed well-set opener Kusal Perera (42) as the batsman came down the track, missed the line of the ball and was stumped comprehensively by Umar Akmal.