Malinga beats Murali to 250 ODI wickets

Stats highlights from Sri Lanka's thrilling win against Pakistan in the first match of the Asia Cup

25-Feb-2014

Lasith Malinga bowls, Pakistan v Sri Lanka, 1st ODI, Sharjah, December 18, 2013

The 12-run defeat was the 12th consecutive time that Pakistan failed to chase a target of 250 or more. The last time they chased such a target was against New Zealand in Napier in 2011.

Lasith Malinga's five-wicket haul was his sixth in ODIs and his second against Pakistan. This haul was his first five-for in 61 ODI innings - the last time he took a five-for was against South Africa in Paarl in January 2012.

Bilawal Bhatti was Malinga's 250th ODI wicket. He is the fourth Sri Lanka bowler to get to this landmark and at 163 ODIs, he's the fastest, beating Muttiah Muralitharan who took 174 ODIs. Click here for a list of bowlers fastest to 250 ODI wickets.

Lahiru Thirimanne's 102 was his second ODI century. His first hundred was against Australia in a victory at Adelaide Oval. In 18 innings since then, Thirimanne had scored 333 runs at 20.81.

Thirimanne and Kumar Sangakkara added 161 runs for the second wicket - Sri Lanka's highest partnership for that wicket against Pakistan. The previous highest was a 157-run partnership between Asanka Gurusinha and Athula Samarasekera in Multan in 1991-92. Overall, it was only the 13th time that a pair added 150 or more for the second wicket for Sri Lanka.

Mohammad Hafeez is usually an economical bowler in ODIs: his economy of 4.08 is the fifth best among bowlers to have bowled at least 500 overs since 2004. But Sri Lanka's batsmen managed to milk him for runs in this match, scoring 54 runs off his nine overs. This is only the fifth time that Hafeez has gone for six run an over out of 65 innings in which he has bowled nine or more overs. The last such innings was in 2011, against New Zealand at the Eden Park.

Umar Akmal's 74 was his 18th fifty in ODIs and his seventh fifty-plus score against Sri Lanka in 19 innings. Akmal has scored 690 runs against Sri Lanka at 53.07. With his mercurial batting, he has left the job unfinished often for Pakistan in chases. Their chase today followed a familiar script - of Akmal's dismissal triggering a collapse from a comfortable position. Akmal has now hit eight fifty-plus scores in chases, five of which have come in defeats.

Misbah-ul-Haq's fifty was the 36th of his ODI career, of which 16 have come since 2013, in 33 innings. No other batsman has more fifty-plus scores than Misbah during this period. Misbah has nine fifties against Sri Lanka, which equals his highest against any team in ODIs.

The partnership between Misbah and Akmal was Pakistan's tenth century partnership for the fifth wicket in chases. The last time Pakistan added 100 or more runs for the fifth wicket in a chase was against India, in Mohali in 2007.

Lasith Malinga Lahiru Thirimanne Umar Akmal Misbah-ul-Haq Sri Lanka Pakistan Sri Lanka vs Pakistan Asia Cup

Shiva Jayaraman is a sub-editor (stats) at ESPNcricinfo.com