Abu Dhabi: Pakistan survived a wonderful spell from an enraged spinner Wanindu Hasaranga to beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in an intense Super 4 match to stay alive in the Asia Cup here on Tuesday.

Chasing 134 should not have been a tough task, but Pakistan nearly made a mess of it before recovering to finish at 138 for five. The conditions were not easy to bat on, but Pakistan batters went for the jugular early on as opener Sahibzada Farhan (24) made up for a clumsy Fakhar Zaman (17 off 19 balls) at the other end with some strident shots, including a sequence of 6, 6, 4 off pacer Nuwan Thushara. However, Maheesh Theekshana (2/24) had Sahizada’s number in the third ball of the sixth over and two balls later ousted Zaman, who was earlier pinged flush on the helmet by Dushmantha Chameera. Soon Hasaranga (2/27), who grabbed a spectacular ground level catch at mid-off to dismiss Zaman, took over, jettisoning Saim Ayub and skipper Salman Agha.

Brief scores:

Sri Lanka in 133/8 in 20 overs (Kamindu Mendis 50, Charith Asalanka20; Shaheen Afridi 3/28, Hussain Talat 2/18) lost to Pakistan 138/5 in 18 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 24, Hussain Talat 32 not out, Mohammad Nawaz 38 not out; Maheesh Theekshana 2/24, Wanindu Hasaranga 2/27) by 5 wickets.