Hossain talat

Sheikh Zayed Stadium: A brilliant bowling performance by Pakistan, led by pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi (3-28), helped restrict Sri Lanka to 133/8 in 20 overs in a must-win Super 4 match of the Men’s T20 Asia Cup at the Zayed Cricket Stadium, here on Tuesday.

With both Pakistan and Sri Lanka losing their first matches of the Super 4 stage, both needed to win the match to keep alive their chances of reaching the final. But Pakistan came out firing on all cylinders after skipper Salman Agha opted to field first.

On a wicket that looked good for batting, Shaheen Afridi struck off the second ball of the first over, and then, in the third over, as with Haris Rauf and Hossain Talat contributing superbly, Pakistan had Sri Lanka struggling at 58/5. Spinner Abrar Ahmed bowled a superbly restrictive line for 1-8 in four overs as Pakistan dominated the middle overs.