Sri Lanka trounce Pakistan by 246 runs in second Test to level series 1-1

GALLE: Sri Lanka redeemed itself in the second Test to level the series 1-1 by defeating Pakistan by 246 runs on the final day, here on Thursday.

Spinner Prabath Jayasuriya stormed the batting line as he bagged his fourth five-wicket haul in the six innings he’s played so far, helping his team topple Pakistan for 261.

Set to chase a mammoth 508-run target, Pakistan put on a dismal batting show in the second inning after they were eliminated by 231 in the first to put Sri Lanka ahead in the game.

While the team lost nine wickets on the final day to finish the game in the second session, captain Babar Azam shone with his challenging 81-for-146 strike before Jayasuriya fired him on a pre-leg wicket.

Spinner Ramesh Mendis had the first big breakthrough for Sri Lanka when he shrugged off starter Imam-ul-Haq, one short of his half-century, earlier in the day.

Pakistan started the final day’s game with a night score of 89/1 and added just eight runs before Imam’s departure.

Batsman goalkeeper Mohammad Rizwan then excellently combined with the skipper for a partnership of 79 runs on the third wicket and took the score from 97 to 176.

However, Jayasuriya dismantled the strong-looking partnership when he eliminated Rizwan after he played 37 runs and 69 balls, laced with six bounds.

Following Rizwan’s sacking, Pakistan lost two more wickets in quick succession as left-handed batsman Fawad Alam went down cheap on one after a disappointing run. While Agha Salman offered his wicket to Jayasuriya just before lunch in just 4 runs.

However, the Pakistani Thais looked completely defenseless against Sri Lanka’s ferocious spin attack as the team lost the last five wickets by a meager 41-run addition.

Following Babar’s dismissal with a total of 205 runs after lunch, Mohammad Nawaz fell in the next over to Mendis’ 12. Yasir Shah was 27 for 24 before handing over his wicket to Jayasuriya to complete his five-wicket run.

Hasan Ali was eliminated on 11-for-10 as he attempted to sweep Mendis, while Naseem Shah offered his wicket to the same bowler to close out Pakistan’s innings.

For Sri Lanka, in addition to Jayasuriya’s sublime run with the bowl, Mendis took four wickets to lead his team to a clinical victory in the second test.

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