Sri Lanka win Asia Cup in Dhaka

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Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup final by five wickets in Dhaka on Saturday, beating Pakistan with nearly four overs to spare thanks to a fine century from Lahiru Thirimanne as they reached the 261 required.

Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup final by five wickets in Dhaka on Saturday, beating Pakistan with nearly four overs to spare thanks to a fine century from Lahiru Thirimanne as they reached the 261 required.

Pakistan recovered from three down and less than 20 on the board to post a defendable 260 for five, leaving Sri Lanka with a bit of work to prevent Misbah's men from defending their title.

Pakistan were 18 for three early on as Lasith Malinga, who took all five wickets, struck early and hard. This meant Misbah and Fawad Alam had to save the day, as they put on 122 together, before Fawad and Umar Akmal added a stand of 115.

Sri Lanka then got off to a good start before losing two quick wickets, including Kumar Sangakkara for a golden duck, but Thirimanne and Mahela Jayawardene's stand of 156 laid a solid foundation for an easy win.

Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first, hoping to post a big score on a good batting track. But Malinga had other ideas, and quickly removed Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez and Sharjeel Khan, leaving Pakistan on 18 for three.

This meant skipper Misbah had to once again come in to save the day, and he and Fawad did a good job in the early and middle overs, even though the going was slower than they would have liked. Misbah eventually departed to Malinga with the score on 140, having made 65.

Alam then continued with Umar Akmal, who ended the tournament second only to Thirimanne on the run list. The wicketkeeper was impressive and scored his 59 runs off 42 balls, while Fawad ended on 114 not out, hoping it would be enough.

Sri Lanka's chase started with a 56 runs stand between Thirimanne and Kusal Perera, with the later making 42 of those runs. He was stumped by Akmal off Saeed Ajmal, and then Sangakkara followed off the next ball, trapped LBW.

This was when Mahela and Thirimanne joined forces, and they steadily ticked the runs off. Mahela was helped along when he was dropped on 52 by Hafeez, who couldn't hold on to the diving effort. Jayawardene went on to make 75, his first half ton in 13 innings.

Thirimanne's second ton of the event, the only player to achieve that, came at the end, off 106 balls and including 13 fours. He was out one run later though, bowled by Ajmal.

This left Mathews and Chaturanga de Silva to finish off they game, with they did with ease after Ashan Priyanjan fell for 13. This ensured that Sri Lanka remained unbeaten in the tournament, a reward for their consistency.

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

Sri Lanka: Chaturanga de Silva, Mahela Jayawardene, Suranga Lakmal,Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Ashan Priyanjan, Kumar Sangakkara, Sachithra Senanayake, Lahiru Thirimanne

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