Sri Lanka vs. Pakistan: Winners and Losers from 1st T20

Pakistan overpowered Sri Lanka in the opening Twenty20 match to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

The tourists made 175 for five after opting to bat first at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Their total proved well beyond their opponents as Sri Lanka—who fielded four debutants—finished up on 146 for seven, meaning they fell 29 runs short of their target.

Pakistan will get the chance to clinch a series sweep when the second and final match takes place at the same venue on Saturday.

Before then, however, here are the winners and losers from the first T20.

Having already played a starring role in Pakistan's one-day series triumph, Shoaib Malik once again proved a thorn in Sri Lanka's side.

Coming in at four in the order, the all-rounder made 46 not out from 31 deliveries. During his time at the crease, he found the boundary on four occasions.

Malik was only called upon to bowl one over in the home side's run chase, though that still proved long enough for him to pick up the wicket of Dhananjaya de Silva with his off-spin.

Lasith Malinga—Sri Lanka's Twenty20 skipper—did not have a good day with the ball.

The paceman, who was left out of the team for the fifth and final one-dayer of the series on Sunday, conceded 46 runs from his four overs, though he did pick up the wicket of Umar Akmal.

Malinga's economy rate of 11.50 an over was the worst of any bowler used by either side during the match.

Umar Akmal played a crucial role for Pakistan, giving their innings important late impetus with 46 from just 24 deliveries.

The right-handed batsman hit three sixes and the same number of fours as he shared in an 81-run stand for the fourth wicket with Shoaib Malik, with the pair's partnership spanning just 45 balls.

Akmal missed out on a seventh half-century in the format when he was trapped leg before wicket by Malinga off the final ball of the 19th over.

Sri Lanka needed a positive start in their bid to chase down a target of 176. Instead, they lost both opening batsmen inside the first two overs.

Kusal Perera was the first man out, the wicketkeeper-batsman caught off the third ball of the home side's innings. Fooled by a slower delivery from Anwar Ali, he was taken by Shahid Afridi at mid-on for four.

Tillakaratne Dilshan didn't last much longer, edging a delivery from Sohail Tanvir through to wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan, as the Sri Lankans quickly slipped to 13 for two after 11 deliveries.

Sohail Tanvir was the pick of Pakistan's attack, finishing with figures of three for 29 from his four overs.

As well as dismissing Tillakaratne Dilshan with the penultimate ball of his opening over, the left-arm paceman also saw off Kithuruwan Vithanage and Milinda Siriwardana to make sure Sri Lanka fell well short.

Tanvir had only played one other Twenty20 fixture for Pakistan this year, though he had recently been playing T20 cricket in the Caribbean Premier League and English domestic cricket.

Sri Lanka knew that the two-match Twenty20 series offered them one final chance to topple Pakistan.

The tourists had won the Test series 2-1, then followed up their triumph in the longest format with a 3-2 victory in the one-dayers.

Now, having lost the opening T20 in Colombo, Sri Lanka have to win the next game just to grab a share of the spoils. Whatever the result on Saturday, they will be glad to see the back of Pakistan.

All stats used in the slideshow were from ESPN Cricinfo.