Sri Lanka beat Pakistan to clinch their 5th Asia Cup title

Sri Lanka concluded their spotless Asia Cup campaign with an emphatic five-wicket win over Pakistan at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Mirpur on Saturday. The Angelo Mathews brigade has now equaled India's record of notching up the tournament on five occasions. The Lankans, riding on the heroics of Lahiru Thirimanne and Mahela Jayawardene, managed to chase down the moderate total of 260 runs at the loss of five wickets with 22 balls to spare.

Thirimanne slammed a spectacular 101 off 108 balls alongside Mahela Jayawardene's 75 off 93 balls to anchor the run-chase for the Lankans. The duo added 156 runs for the third wicket to steady the innings for their team after Saeed Ajmal's consecutive blows. Pakistan missed the trick in their bowling with all the bowlers, barring Saeed Ajmal who took three wickets, barely threatening the Lankan batsmen. After deciding to bat first, Pakistan struggled to post 260 runs following early blows.

However, the two-time Asia Cup champions found refuge in the partnership of Misbah-ul-Haq(65) and Fawad Alam(114*) - who added 122 runs for the fourth wicket. Umar Akmal provided the late flourish for Pakistan with a quickfire knock of 59 runs in just 42 balls. Lasith Malinga was the pick of the bowlers and also the only wicket-taker for Sri Lanka on the day with five scalps for 56 runs in his 10 overs. All-rounder Angelo Mathews was the most economical bowler giving away just 23 runs in seven overs. Thirimanne and Malinga had also starred in Sri Lanka's 12-run win over Pakistan earlier in the tournament. Thirimanne scored 102 in that game while Malinga had bagged 5/52.