TORONTO, Oct 12: Pakistan engineered a remarkable comeback through skipper Shoaib Malik and Fawad Alam to defeat Sri Lanka by three wickets in a thrilling Canada Twenty20 quadrangular tournament clash with just one ball to spare on Saturday.

Pakistan made 141-7 with Man-of the-Match Malik making an unbeaten 42 after Sri Lanka, who rested skipper Mahela Jayawardene and spin wizard Ajantha Mendis, had hit 137-9 off their 20 overs.

Pakistan were struggling at 91-7 at one stage following a four-wicket return for debutant Kaushalya Weeraratne, but Malik and Fawad Alam added 50 in four overs in front of packed King’s City ground.

Malik hit the winning boundary off the penultimate ball to send Pakistan top of the table in the four-nation tournament which also features makeweights Canada and Zimbabwe.

Pakistan had needed 13 from the final over but young left-hander Fawad slammed his third six and Malik then sealed victory with consecutive boundaries off Nuwan Kulasekara.

When Sri Lanka batted, opener Sanath Jayasuriya smashed consecutive boundaries off Shoaib Akhtar, but fell next ball when he top-edged to fine leg.

Mahela Udawatte and Jehan Mubarak added 51 for the second wicket but the middle order struggled to push on against Shahid Afridi and Malik.

However, the main late action came from paceman Umar Gul who finished with four wickets.

Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka are expected to meet in Monday’s final.

Scoreboard

SRI LANKA:

S.T. Jayasuriya c Sohail b Shoaib Akhtar 8

M.L. Udawatte b Afridi 16

J. Mubarak st Kamran b Shoaib Malik 39

C.K. Kapugedera c Misbah b Umar Gul 27

S.H.T. Kandamby st Kamran b Fawad 10

K. Weeraratne not out 20

T.M. Dilshan b Umar Gul 0

M.F. Maharoof b Umar Gul 2

T. Thushara b Umar Gul 1

K.M.D.N. Kulasekara run out 1

C.R.D. Fernando not out 0

EXTRAS (B-2, LB-6, W-4, NB-1) 13

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 20 overs) 137

FALL OF WKTS: 1-8, 2-59, 3-80, 4-108, 5-120, 6-121, 7-130, 8-132, 9-135.

BOWLING: Shoaib Akhtar 4-0-31-1; Sohail Tanvir 4-0-29-0 (1nb, 2w); Shoaib Malik 4-0-23-1 (1w); Shahid Afridi 4-0-20-1; Umar Gul 3-0-13-4 (1w); Fawad Alam 1-0-13-1.

PAKISTAN:

Salman Butt lbw b Maharoof 7

Shoaib Khan Jr c Dilshan b Maharoof 6

Younis Khan b Weeraratne 24

Misbah-ul-Haq c Dilshan b Weeraratne 20

Shoaib Malik not out 42

Shahid Afridi c Kandamby b Weeraratne 1

Kamran Akmal c Thushara b Fernando 11

Sohail Tanvir c Maharoof b Weeraratne 2

Fawad Alam not out 23

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-1, NB-2) 5

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 19.5 overs) 141

FALL OF WKTS: 1-11, 2-13, 3-61, 4-62, 5-69, 6-85, 7-91.

DID NOT BAT: Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul.

BOWLING: Maharoof 4-0-23-2; Kulasekara 3.5-0-36-0; Thushara 4-0-30-0 (1w); Fernando 4-0-31-1 (2nb); Weeraratne 4-0-19-4.

RESULT: Pakistan won by three wickets.

UMPIRES: K. Bayney (Canada) and M.R. Benson (England).

TV UMPIRE: K. Shanthikumar (Canada).

MATCH REFEREE: J.J. Crowe (New Zealand).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Shoaib Malik.—AFP