1st T20: Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 29 runs, lead two-match series 1-0

Umar Akmal smashes quick-fire 46 as Sohail Tanvir bags three for Pakistan

Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 29 runs in the first T20 of the two-match series in Colombo on Thursday.

After bagging the Test and ODI series, Shahid Afridi was under pressure to deliver in the T20s for the Pakistan but he took the responsibility equally well.

After winning the toss, Afridi decided to bat first. Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Akmal and Shoaib Malik said aye to his cause and scored 46 runs each to push Pakistan to the capatain's desired total of 175 runs.

Sri Lanka, in their chase, lost wickets from the start and could not find the momentum to chase the 176-run target.

Milinda Siriwardana was the only batsman to show some hitting intent as he scored 35 off 18 deliveries with the help of three boundaries and two maximums. Chamara Kapugedera, who was making a return for Sri Lanka, and Dhananjaya de Silva, one of the debutant, scored 31 each to try and add respect to Sri Lanka's loss.



Teams

Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (captain), Mukhtar Ahmed, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Rizwan, Anwar Ali, Imad Wasim, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Irfan.

Sri Lanka: Lasith Malinga (captain), Kusal Perera, Tilakaratne Dilshan, Dhananjaya de Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews, Kithuruwan Vithanage, Milinda Siriwardana, Thisara Perera, Jeffrey Vandersay, Binura Fernando



Sri Lanka 146-7 (20 overs)

PAKISTAN WIN BY 29 RUNS.

Four dots. Single. Kapugedera to play the last ball. Gets two off it.

Imad Wasim bowls the last over.



Sri Lanka 143-7 (19 overs)

SIX! Kapugedera gathering confidence from a lost cause.

FOUR! Binura Fernando get bat on ball and finds the boundary. Goes inside out over extra cover.

Sohail Tanvir bowls his last and team's penultimate over. He has bagged a wicket in all three overs.



Sri Lanka 129-7 (18 overs)

Just a single off the over.

Muhammad Irfan bowls his last over.



Sri Lanka 128-7 (17 overs)

SIX! Just a tad short and flick-pulled towards square leg. Kapugedera boasting his skills.

OUT! Thisara Perera caught off a short ball on two runs. Sri Lanka sinking slowly. Heavy 55 off 22 needed.

Anwar Ali.



Sri Lanka 119-6 (16 overs)

OUT! Siriwardana caught at long-on after scoring 35 off 18 balls.

Sohail Tanvir is back for Pakistan.



Sri Lanka 114-5 (15 overs)

Sri Lanka need 62 off 30.

FOUR! Kapugedera makes his contribution. Carved over point.

FOURx2! Siriwardana is targeting the most difficult bowler. Hits a short ball over covers, then follows up with a flick towards square leg.

Muhammad Irfan is back.



Sri Lanka 99-5 (14 overs)

SIX! I am back says Kapugedera with a big hit over the bowler's head.

STUMP appeal! Kapugedera has dragged his foot back in time.

OUT! Floater works for Malik. Dhanajaya de Silva caught at long leg on 31 runs.

Experienced Shoaib Malik is given the ball by Afridi.



Sri Lanka 89-4 (13 overs)

SIX! One man changing the game. This is what T20 can be about. Siriwardana goes big again, this time over long-on.

Shahid Afridi in for his last over.



Sri Lanka 77-4 (12 overs)

FOUR! One man changing the game here. Can he guide Sri Lanka somewhere near the victory line? Siriwardana making his presence count immediately.

SIX! Milinda Siriwardana goes over square leg. This is the first one by the Islanders and this is big too!

Imad Wasim into his second over.



Sri Lanka 63-4 (11 overs)

Eight runs off the over.

Shahid Afridi into his third over on the trot.



Sri Lanka 55-4 (10 overs)

BOWLED! Angelo Mathews departs on 23 runs. He had to try something different. Tries to pull a not-so-short ball and it skids on to rattle his stumps.

RUN OUT appeal! Imad Wasim says he has touched the ball as the ball strikes the stumps on a straight shot. Replay shows he has got nothing on the ball.

Imad Wasim is brought on now. Afridi making sure Sri Lanka don't settle to one bowler.



Sri Lanka 51-3 (9 overs)

Four runs off the over. Sri Lanka need 125 off 11 overs now. Need an AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle or a Shahid Afridi here.

Shahid Afridi continues into his second over. I wonder if he would have ever said this to his players, 'I am the captain, I can bowl as many overs as I want and whenever I want'.



Sri Lanka 47-3 (8 overs)

Just four runs off the over.

Muhammad Irfan continues from the tallest end.



Sri Lanka 43-3 (7 overs)

FOUR! Beautiful. Charismatic. Perfect use of feet. De Silve goes towards extra cover on the first ever ball he faces against Afridi.

Shahid Afridi is in himself to bowl.



Sri Lanka 35-3 (6 overs)

FOUR! Over extra cover. Angelo Mathews takes the attack to the tallest man in the team.



Muhammad Irfan brought in by Afridi.



Sri Lanka 29-3 (5 overs)

Just six runs off his over.

Anwar Ali continues into his third over.



Sri Lanka 23-3 (4 overs)

BOWLED! Dragged onto the stumps by Vithanage (1). Veteran campaigner Angelo Mathews walks in now to join de Silva.

Sohail Tanvir in for his second over.



Sri Lanka 19-2 (3 overs)

Six runs off the over.

Anwar Ali in for his second over.



Sri Lanka 13-2 (2 overs)

OUT! Tilakarne Dilshan gone. Jinxed by the commentator's curse. Caught behind on six runs. Kithuruwan Vithanage and Dhanajaya de Silva are out there now.



FOUR! Dil-scooped over the keeper's head. No one does it better, bet you, no one can do it better than Dilshan.



Sohail Tanvir in to bowl with the new ball.



Sri Lanka 7-1 (1 over)

FOUR! oh no its SAVED! The ball went dead before reaching the boundary.

OUT! Kusal Perera (4) caught by Shahid Afridi at long-on. Short and he skies it high. Afridi stands under it and bags it easily.



Tilakaratne Dilshan and Kusal Perera are out there to chase the 176-run target. Anwar Ali has been given the ball by Shahid Afridi.



Pakistan 175-5 (20 overs)

BOWLED! Shahid Afridi (8) tries a scoop and misses the ball.

Low full toss. Afridi strikes towards the long-on fielder. They run for two. Malik is run out. WAIT! Umpire is not referring it. He is clearly short of his crease.

SIX! He doesn't need a lot of time to set in. Over long-off in style. Fernando is hurt.



Afridi misses a full-toss on off. What a chance off the first ball and he misses it.

Three runs off the first ball as the fielder at extra cover saves one for his team.

Binura Fernando bowls the last over.



Pakistan 164-4 (19 overs)

LBW! Umar Akmal misses the slow yorker on 46. He has done his job. Shahid Afridi to walk in for the last over.



SIX! Picked from full length and goes maximum over long-off. Umar Akmal means business today! Moves to 46 off 23 balls.



Two, single and two again. A rare dot ball follows.

Malinga bowls the penultimate over while it has started to drizzle a little.



Pakistan 153-3 (18 overs)

FOUR! Over mid-off. Malik get down on one knee and converts a yorker into a full-toss.



Thisara Perera.



Pakistan 144-3 (17 overs)

FOUR! Umar Akmal is on fire. He knows he has replaced someone very important. He is giving it his all. This time he slashes a wide on off ball over point.



FOUR! Low full-toss and Umar Akmal steers it past point. Perfect placement, best result.



Malinga in for his third over. He has been expensive today!



Pakistan 133-3 (16 overs)

SIX! Another one. Treat for the eyes. On one knee and slapped over long-on. As they say, 'going, going and GONE!'



SIX! First of the innings. Slow bouncer and it goes flat over the boundary. Umar Akmal the man!



Binura Fernando brought back into the attack.



Pakistan 116-3 (15 overs)

FOUR! Outside edge and Shoaib Malik bags a bonus boundary. Meanwhile, Shahid Afridi is padded up, helmet on and ready to storm in.



Mathews is back!



Pakistan 105-3 (14 overs)

FOUR! Umar Akmal goes past the mid-off fielder, over the bowler's head.



WIDE! Like very WIDE. I mean that is WIDE in any parallel universe. Thanks to the keeper that he bagged it, otherwise that was wide off the second or third slip.

RUN OUT chance! Direct hit at bowler's end but Malik is in.

FOUR! Shoaib Malik welcomes him with a boundary.



Malinga is back on!



Pakistan 90-3 (13 overs)

He finishes with 25 runs off four overs. No boundaries off him. He promises to be a handy T20 bowler for Sri Lanka.

Vandersay in for his fourth. No boundaries off him yet!



Pakistan 85-3 (12 overs)

OUT! Shehzad (46) tries to be cheeky. Tries to snap one over short fine leg but finds the fielder. Quick dismissal! So, here we have Umar Akmal who has replaced Sarfraz Ahmed today. Can he justify his selection today?



FOUR! Short and on off. Shehzad fetches it from there and finds the gap at midwicket.



Thisara Perera again.



Pakistan 79-2 (11 overs)

Eight runs off the leggie's over.

Vandersay in for his third. Malik and Shehzad are not finding it easy to score big off him.



Pakistan 71-2 (10 overs)

CAUGHT or DROPPED! Mathews runs in from long-off and takes a blinder at extra cover. He signals he doesn't know if he has caught it or not. The replays show that ball has just touched the ground! Good effort, just not the desired result.

Shehzad is struggling to read the pace of the ball.

Thisara Perera with his slow balls again.



Pakistan 66-2 (9 overs)

Eight runs off his over. No boundaries!

Vandersay the leggie again.



Pakistan 58-2 (8 overs)

FOUR! Shoaib Malik slashes the ball. He won't shy away from competition. He says bring it on!



OUT! Hafeez (17) tries to goes big off a slow leg-cutter and is caught at midwicket by Vithanage.



Thisara Perera is brought on to bowl now.

Pakistan 48-1 (7 overs)

Shehzad 28, Hafeez 14

Just six runs off the young spinner. He seems promising!

Leg spinner Jeffrey Vandersay is introduced into the attack as soon as the field restrictions end.



Pakistan 42-1 (6 overs)

Shehzad 24, Hafeez 12

FOUR! Hafeez with a beautiful lap sweep. He is showing his batting class with no tensions of bowling on his mind.



Mathews continues for his third over.



Pakistan 35-1 (5 overs)

FOUR! Inside edge and Shehzad bags a second boundary.



FOUR! Ahmed Shehzad moves to 16 from 12. Malinga delivers it short and on the wickets. Shehzad moves out of the way and goes towards point.



Sri Lanka T20 captain Lasith Malinga walks in to bowl.



Pakistan 26-1 (4 overs)

FOUR! Hafeez punches it through the covers.



FOUR! Straight and Ahmed Shehzad beats the mid-on fielder.



Angelo Mathews in for his second over.



Pakistan 13-1 (3 overs)

Just four runs off the over.

Binura Fernando in for his second over.



Pakistan 10-1 (2 overs)

OUT! Mukhtar Ahmed caught at short third man for only two runs. The danger man goes! Muhammad Hafeez walks in to join Shehzad.



Sri Lanka ODI captain Angelo Mathews bowls the second over for Sri Lanka.



Pakistan 5-0 (1 over)

The Sri Lanka version of Muhammad Irfan, Binura, is finding it hard to follow a straight line. Two consecutive wides in the first over.

First ball! Swing and a miss from Mukhtar.

Pakistan are opening with Mukhtar Ahmed and Ahmed Shehzad. Left-arm towering pacer Binura Fernando will open the bowling.



Welcome to The Express Tribune's live updates of the first T20 match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. And the breaking news is Sarfraz Ahmed has been left out of the team.

Why is Sarfaraz being axed from playing 11???? #ETConvos

— Syed Liaquat (@liaquat111) July 30, 2015

https://twitter.com/Azharkh4/status/626745571592638464

Toss

Lasith Malinga tosses the coin in the air, Shahid Afridi calls head and once again Pakistan have won the toss. Afridi says, "Its a good hard surface. 175 will be a good score. Its not going to spin that much I guess." Malinga says he would have batted first even if they won the toss.