The Gul-Thirimanne clash

The altercation
Lahiru Thirimanne had opened the face of his bat and guided his previous delivery cheekily past the keeper for four. Minimum effort, maximum reward. Umar Gul wasn't pleased. When Thirimanne defended his next ball back to Gul, he picked it up and shaped to throw at the stumps. He didn't let go, but held his pose. Thirimanne said something, and bowler and batsmen came nose-to-nose before Mahela Jayawardene put a hand on Gul's shoulder and eased them apart.

The false dawn
Sharjeel Khan started off the Pakistan innings with two sweetly-timed boundaries, almost brushing aside any doubt about him replacing Sohaib Maqsood. But off the last ball, he clipped a catch to mid-on, very well held by Thisara Perera. Whether Sharjeel felt the pressure of proving himself can be argued, but it was a wasted dismissal after showing his touch.

The shot
Fawad Alam batted like a man possessed towards the end of the Pakistan innings, culminating in the completion of his first ODI century. He reached the mark with a superb shot, clipped over midwicket off Perera. He had jumped back inside his crease like he often does in the last few overs, and that threw off Perera's length. And like many shots in this tournament, Alam knew the result even before the ball had landed in the Mirpur grandstand, and took off his helmet to start celebrations.

The mis-step
Kusal Perera was giving Pakistan a fright at the start of Sri Lanka's chase, smashing their bowlers to all parts with his fierce short-arm punches and jabs. He had moved to 35 when he pulled Junaid Khan high to deep midwicket, where a backtracking Sharjeel took an overhead catch. His foot, however, trod clumsily on the boundary rope. In an era when fielders are hyper-aware of the boundary line and pull off all sorts of acrobatics to complete clean catches at the rope, Sharjeel's effort looked a touch comical.