Pakistan gets ready for the short game after Test and ODI wins

Misbah-ul-Haq is hoping that his side can improve their Twenty20 results, after losing 13 of their last 24 matches in the format.

ABU DHABI // Misbah-ul-Haq hopes his team improve their record in the shortest form of the game with a win over Sri Lanka in a Twenty20 tonight at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.

Pakistan, the 2009 World Twenty20 champions, have lost 13 of their last 24 matches in the rapid-fire form of the game, and their rough patch has seen them plunge to seventh in the inaugural Twenty20 rankings, released last month.

But Misbah was confident his team will continue to improve after beating Sri Lanka 1-0 in three Tests and 4-1 in the five-match one-day series. Misbah said the one-day series win excites him.

"It was an outstanding performance by the team," Misbah said after his team's narrow, three-wicket win in the fifth ODI at Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

"I am confident that we will do our best in the Twenty20 to improve our ranking."

Sri Lanka, relegated from second to fourth in one-day rankings, are placed second in Twenty20 rankings, and their captain, Tillakaratne Dilshan, was hoping his batsmen lift themselves after failing to impress during the whole tour.

"It's disappointing to lose the one-day series and we need to quickly address our batting problems before our tour of South Africa," Dilshan said of his team's tour next month where they play three Tests and five one-day internationals.

"It will be a new game [today] and a change of format, so I hope the players lift themselves," said Dilshan, whose team will also have the services of mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis for the Twenty20 match.