Toss: Pakistan won the toss and chose to field.

Teams:

Pakistan: 1. Sharjeel Khan, 2. Ahmed Shehzad, 3. Mohammad Hafeez (c), 4. Sohaib Maqsood, 5. Umar Amin, 6. Umar Akmal (wk), 7. Shahid Afridi, 8. Bilawal Bhatti, 9. Sohail Tanvir, 10. Saeed Ajmal, 11. Usman Khan

Sri Lanka: 1. TM Dilshan, 2. MDKJ Perera, 3. LD Chandimal, 4. KC Sangakkara, 5. View dismissal AD Mathews, 6. HDRL Thirimanne, 7. NLTC Perera, 8. KMDN Kulasekara, 9. SMSM Senanayake, 10. SL Malinga, BAW Mendis




Following Pakistan's defeat of Afghanistan a couple of days ago, attention now turned to the full series against Sri Lanka which began with a T20I in Dubai. Pakistan handed a debut to the young left armer Usman Khan Shinwari while Saeed Ajmal came in for Zulfiqar Babar.

Mohammad Hafeez opened the bowling with himself but it was Sohail Tanvir who landed the first blow when Dilshan cut the ball straight to Ahmed Shehzad at point. Usman Khan had no success in his first over Perera and Chandimal got the scoreboard ticking over. As is so often the case though, it was Saeed Ajmal that got the breakthrough, trapping Perera in front as the batsman played around his front pad.

Chandimal had reached 22 and was just looking to accelerate when he was the next man to fall. Shahid Afridi got his first wicket of the game, another LBW, in his second over as Angelo Mathews joined Kumar Sangakarra at the crease. Mathews hit Hafeez for a six over midwicket and with seven overs to go, Sri Lanka were 82/3.

Ajmal reached the milestone of 400 international wickets when Sangakarra gave it away in the next over, chipping the ball straight to the man at cover. Mathews and Thirimanne upped the tempo of the innings and the 18th over of the innings was particularly expensive. Bilawal Bhatti was taken for 18 off the over to take Sri Lanka to a healthy 126/4 with two overs left.

Thirimanne launched Ajmal for six off the last ball of the penultimate over to set up the Sri Lankans for a final charge. Mathews fell in the final over to give Tanvir his second wicket but the visitors finished on a competitive 145/5 from their 20 overs. A total that Pakistan should be happy be with given that they chose to bowl first. Sri Lanka weren't really able to string any decent partnerships together but it remains to be seen if that 18 run Bilawal Bhatti over ends up costing the hosts.


Fall Of Wickets

1-9 (Dilshan, 1.6 ov),
2-41 (MDKJ Perera, 5.6 ov),
3-59 (Chandimal, 9.1 ov),
4-84 (Sangakkara, 13.4 ov),
5-142 (Mathews, 19.2 ov)



Pakistan lost an early wicket in their chase, and it was the in-form Ahmed Shehzad who was caught chasing a wide delivery by Thirimanne for four. Captain Mohammad Hafeez came out join Sharjeel Khan and the two batsmen combined to put on 57 runs from the following eight overs. Sharjeel Khan looked calm at the crease as he supported his captain, who struck a number of crisp boundaries including consecutive bounadries - four and six - off Angelo Mathews.

However, Sharjeel holed out to long-on for 34, precipitating a mini-collapse as Hafeez (32) and Umar Akmal departed and Pakistan had lost three wickets in the space of eight deliveries. Umar Akmal was unlucky after he was run out backing up, after a straight drive flicked the fingers of the bowler.

Umar Amin and Shoaib Maqsood tried to regain the momentum for Pakistan, but Umar Amin hit the ball straight to mid-off for eight. This brought Shahid Afridi to the crease with Pakistan needing 50 runs from five overs. Despite the loss soon after of Shoaib Maqsood for 13, who was trapped lbw by a full Malinga delivery, Bilawal Bhatti again showed his resilience as a cricketer by contributing a vital 10 off 8 deliveries at a crucial point in the game. He supported his senior colleague Shahid Afridi, who has always enjoyed playing against Sri Lanka and looked in control as he cut, drove and swept his way to 39 off 20 deliveries to bring the match home for Pakistan.



Fall Of wickets
1-12 (Ahmed Shehzad, 2.2 ov),
2-69 (Sharjeel Khan, 10.3 ov),
3-76 (Mohammad Hafeez, 11.3 ov),
4-76 (Umar Akmal, 11.4 ov),
5-96 (Umar Amin, 14.1 ov),
6-117 (Sohaib Maqsood, 16.1 ov),
7-139 (Bilawal Bhatti, 18.5 ov)




The bowlers did well to restrict Sri Lanka to just 145, and the below-par total ensured the batsmen were able to manage the run rate despite the regular loss of wickets. There were shades of his innings in the 2009 World T20 final against the same opponent in the Afridi cameo today and Pakistan will be hoping he can continue his good form in the matches to come.