Asia Cup 2014: Sri Lanka Win Fifth Title by 5 Wickets — Lasith Malinga's 5/56 and Thirimanne's 101 Beat Pakistan at Mirpur

Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup 2014 on 8 March 2014 at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur, Dhaka, defeating Pakistan by 5 wickets with 22 balls remaining. Pakistan scored 260/5 in 50 overs, Fawad Alam top-scoring with 114* off 134 balls. Sri Lanka chased 261/5 in 46.2 overs — Lahiru Thirimanne scoring 101 off 108 balls to anchor the chase and Lasith Malinga taking 5/56 in Pakistan's innings as Player of the Match. Lahiru Thirimanne won Player of the Tournament with 279 runs across 5 matches. Angelo Mathews captained Sri Lanka; Misbah-ul-Haq captained Pakistan. It was Sri Lanka's fifth Asia Cup title.

Lasith Malinga 5/56: The Bowling That Held Pakistan to 260 Despite Fawad Alam 114*

Lasith Malinga's 5/56 in Pakistan's innings — restricting a lineup that had Fawad Alam's unbeaten 114 off 134 balls to 260/5 rather than the 290-300 that Alam's century threatened — was the bowling performance that gave Sri Lanka's 5-wicket chase of 261 the achievable target it ultimately proved. Malinga, Sri Lanka's right-arm fast-medium bowler and yorker specialist who had built his reputation as one of T20 and ODI cricket's most dangerous death-over bowlers, produced five wickets across Pakistan's innings to keep the total below the 270-plus range that would have put Sri Lanka's chase under significantly more pressure. Sri Lanka's 261/5 in 46.2 overs — completing the chase with 22 balls unused — reflected how Malinga's 5/56 had made the 261 target achievable, with Thirimanne's century then providing the batting anchor.

Lahiru Thirimanne 101: The Anchor Century That Completed the Chase

Lahiru Thirimanne's 101 off 108 balls — the Player of the Tournament's final innings that gave Sri Lanka the batting centerpiece of their 261/5 chase — anchored a run chase that Pakistan's 260/5 (Fawad Alam 114*) had made competitive across 50 overs. Thirimanne, Sri Lanka's left-handed opening batter who had developed as a consistent ODI scorer in the middle of Sri Lanka's batting order, scoring 101 in the Asia Cup 2014 final at Mirpur gave his 279 tournament runs (Player of the Tournament) their highest-profile match. Malinga's Player of the Match (5/56) and Thirimanne's Player of the Tournament (279 runs including the final century) gave Sri Lanka's 2014 Asia Cup title its two defining individual contributions — the bowling that limited Pakistan's innings and the batting that completed the chase.

Asia Cup 2014 in Context

The Asia Cup 2014 — played in ODI format in Bangladesh in February-March 2014 — was the 12th edition of the competition. Sri Lanka's 5-wicket win over Pakistan — Malinga 5/56 restricting Pakistan to 260/5 despite Fawad Alam 114*, Thirimanne 101 anchoring the 261/5 chase — gave Sri Lanka their fifth Asia Cup championship and confirmed their ODI cricket dominance in the subcontinental conditions that the competition favours. Pakistan's 260/5 — Fawad Alam's 114* the standout innings in a competitive total — reflected the batting quality that Misbah-ul-Haq's Pakistan brought to the Asia Cup 2014 final, but Malinga's 5/56 had limited the total enough for Thirimanne's century to complete the chase with 22 balls remaining.