The first one-sided game of the series, Pakistan got a solid foundation with Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez, who went on to a career-best 140* after Malinga put down a sitter early on. Misbah and Umar Akmal played key cameos, after which the bowlers did their job. Umar gul made a fine return to international cricket with a double-strike early on to cripple SL, who never really looked like they had a chance in the chase. The asking rate was never in control, and in the attempted big hits to match the required rate resulted in regular wickets. Top performance from Pakistan this.
Najam Sethi sums up his team's performance in a tweet: "Yaaayyyyyyyyyyyy!"
Omar Iqbal: "Good comeback by Gul, and for once selectors made a good decision by sending him to Sharjah. His comeback is a huge boost to Pakistans bowling lineup. Bye bye Tanveer!"
Time for the presentation ceremony:
Angelo Mathews: "It was a disappointing performance all round to be honest. If you are chasing 320, you need to get a good start and give the middle order players a chance, that didn't happen. We need to win next game to stay alive in the series so we'll come out firing."
Mohammad Hafeez: is the Man of the Match. He thanks his team-mates, supporters and his critics for motivating him. "I was trying to not get bogged down, I was trying to play technical shots, Ahmed played really well, took the pressure on, the partnership gave us momentum, bowlers did a great job on this sort of pitch."
Misbah-ul-Haq: "I'm really happy with the performance. Happy to bat first, top order showed responsibility, Hafeez and Ahmed provided the platform, and good finish too. The way Gul came and took wickets set the tone, as we weren't taking wickets with the new ball. I was happy with the way the spinners performed as well."
Steve Austin: "The award ceremony is longer and more exhausting than the match."
On that note, I'll sign out. See you all for game four...
SL Malinga b Umar Gul 19 (20m 27b 4x4 0x6) SR: 70.37
Ashar : "Malinga can make up the 124 runs from Hafeezs dropped catch"
Here's Gul. Still time to see that world-famous yorker
END OF OVER:44 | 10 Runs | SL: 213/9 (114 runs required from 36 balls, RR: 4.84, RRR: 19.00)
- Lasith Malinga19 (23b)
- Sachithra Senanayake4 (12b)
- Shahid Afridi9-0-41-1
- Saeed Ajmal10-1-37-2
END OF OVER:43 | 4 Runs | SL: 203/9 (124 runs required from 42 balls, RR: 4.72, RRR: 17.71)
- Lasith Malinga10 (18b)
- Sachithra Senanayake3 (11b)
- Saeed Ajmal10-1-37-2
- Junaid Khan9-0-40-2
END OF OVER:42 | 1 Run | SL: 199/9 (128 runs required from 48 balls, RR: 4.73, RRR: 16.00)
- Sachithra Senanayake3 (11b)
- Lasith Malinga6 (12b)
- Junaid Khan9-0-40-2
- Saeed Ajmal9-1-33-2
Tip to Junaid: bowl it fast and full on the stumps
