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Malinga gets SL out of jail against UAE

Skipper takes four wickets after UAE raised prospect of huge upset in Asia Cup clash

Captain Lasith Malinga took 4-26 to help Sri Lanka defend a moderate total of 129 and beat the UAE by 14 runs in the Asia Cup.

The UAE raised the prospect of a shock win by restricting Sri Lanka to 8-129 from 20 overs after they were sent in to bat, but the Malinga-led attack held the Emirates to 9-115 in reply.

Nuwan Kulasekara gave handy support to his new-ball partner Malinga with 3-10 from four overs.

Malinga undermined the UAE's chase in the very first over when he trapped opener Rohan Mustafa first ball and then bowled Mohammad Shahzad five balls later to leave them 2-7.

That become 4-16 in the fourth over when Kulasekara landed a double blow of his own before Swapnil Patil, who top-scored with 37 off 36 balls, lifted his team to 6-85, needing 45 more runs in 21 balls.

But Malinga had Patil caught and bowled to all but end the UAE's hopes.

Earlier, Sri Lanka openers Dinesh Chandimal (50 from 39 balls) and Tilkaratne Dilshan (27 from 28) combined to put on 68 in just nine overs.

But they never recovered after Dilshan was dismissed at the start of the 10th over, managing just 8-61 in the final 11 overs of their innings.

The five-nation Asia Cup, which also features India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and culminates in the final on March 6, acts as a perfect preparation for the ICC World T20 starting next month.