Lasith Malinga reasserted his skill for rattling chases in a tight finish, after Lahiru Thirimanne had proclaimed his relevance to the ODI format, as Sri Lanka sputtered to a thrilling win in the Asia Cup opener in Fatullah.
Pakistan lost their top order cheaply, surged, collapsed, then surged briefly again, in search of 297, but the total that had been set up by Thirimanne's 102 was 12 too many, despite half-centuries from Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal.
Malinga's 5 for 52 was his first in ODIs since January 2012, as he claimed the two last Pakistan scalps in an unflappable 49th over replete with tailing yorkers. Bilawal Bhatti and Saeed Ajmal had managed 17 runs from the previous over to whittle the requirement down to 17 from two overs, but Ajmal was caught in front by a yorker, and Bhatti had one clatter into his off stump.
