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Hambantota: Perera and Thirimanne contributed with the bat while Kulasekara, Mathews, Malinga and Senanayake were amongst the wickets as Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan by 37 runs to go 1-0 up in the 2-match series in the first Twenty20 international in Hambantota on Friday.
Sri Lankan bowler bowled 17 wides but they have still defended 132 by 37 runs. That is a very comprehensive margin. And they were 89 for 7 at one stage before Perera blasted them to 132. Pakistan lost two wickets off the first two balls, and never recovered.
Thisara Perera is the Man of the Match
Earlier, Sri Lanka opt to bak, Sohail Tanvir grabbed three big wickets as Pakistan restricted Sri Lanka to 132 for 7.
The left-arm paceman jolted Sri Lanka's top order when he dismissed skipper Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara in his opening three overs to reduce the hosts to 31-3.
Tanvir finished with 3-12 off four tight overs, his best performance in Twenty20 internationals. He was superbly backed by off-spinner Saeed Ajmal, who bagged two wickets for 20 runs.
Thisara Perera top-scored with a 16-ball 32 not out in Sri Lanka's below-par batting display, helping his team make 43 runs off the last 22 balls.
Lahiru Thirimanne, making his T20 debut, was the other main scorer with a 25-ball 30.
Sri Lanka made a poor start after electing to bat, losing four wickets in the opening eight overs with just 39 on the board.
Tanvir struck with his third delivery when he had Jayawardene caught by Shoaib Malik in the covers and then had Dilshan caught by Umar Gul at fine-leg in his next over.
Sangakkara (19) hit three successive fours off paceman Mohammad Sami before he inside-edged a Tanvir delivery onto his stumps.
Brief scores
Sri Lanka 132 for 7 (Perera 32*, Tanvir 3-12)
Pakistan 95 (Mathews 2-8, Malinga 2-12, Kulasekara 2-13)
Result Sri Lanka won by 37 runs
MOM Thissara Parera (Sri Lanka)
