Misbah leads Pakistan to T20 victory, completes dominance over SL

Misbah-ul-Haq's steady hand and some lusty blows from Shahid Afridi secured Pakistan's five-wicket victory against Sri Lanka in the lone Twenty20 International at Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Stadium, on Friday.

Pakistan bowled out Sri Lanka for 141 in 19.3 overs before chasing down the target with three balls to spare to add to their Test and One-day series wins over the same opponents.

Pakistan slipped to 44 for three before Asad Shafiq (33) and captain Misbah (48 not out) anchored their chase.

With 23 runs needed from the last 12 deliveries, Afridi (22) milked 14 runs off the penultimate over sent down by Dilhara Fernando before being dismissed.

Requiring nine runs off the final over, Pakistan benefitted from an Angelo Mathews overthrow that raced to the boundary before Shoaib Malik scored the winning run.

Dinesh Chandimal hit a maiden half-century in Twenty20 internationals for Sri Lanka but they lost their last seven wickets for just 22 runs with Aizaz Cheema returning figures of 4-30.

Scoreboard:

Sri Lanka:

Upul Tharanga b Aizaz Cheema 12

Tillakaratne Dilshan (c) c Misbah-ul-Haq b S Ajmal 28

Dinesh Chandimal lbw b Aizaz Cheema 56

Kumar Sangakkara (wk) c & b M Hafeez 9

Angelo Mathews run out (Misbah-ul-Haq) 14

Chamara Silva run out (S Ajmal/U Akmal) 4

Thissara Perera c U Akmal b Aizaz Cheema 0

Lasith Malinga b Aizaz Cheema 1

Dilruwan Perera c Misbah-ul-Haq b U Gul 1

Ajantha Mendis not out 0

Dilhara Fernando b U Gul 0

Extras: (b 0,lb 3,w 13, nb 0) 16

Total: (All Out; 19.3 overs) 141

Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-61, 3-87, 4-119, 5-133, 6-138, 7-139, 8-140, 9-141, 10-141

Bowling: Umar Gul 2.3-0-16-2, Sohail Tanvir 2-0-29-0,Aizaz Cheema 4-0-30-4, Saeed Ajmal 4-0-22-1, Shahid Afridi 4-0-21-0, Mohammad Hafeez 3-0-20-1

Pakistan:

Mohammad Hafeez lbw b T. Perera 13

Imran Farhat c T. Perera b Mendis 19

Asad Shafiq b Malinga 33

Umar Akmal b Dilshan 0

Misbah-ul Haq not out 48

Shahid Afridi c Sangakkara b Fernando 22

Shoaib Malik not out 2

Extras: (w5) 5

Total: (for five wkts) 142

Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-36, 3-44, 4-90, 5-133,

Bowling: Malinga 3.3-0-32-1, T. Perera 4-0-26-1, Fernando 4-0-36-1, Mendis 3-0-20-1 , Dilshan 2-0-8-1, D. Perera 3-0-20-0