Sri Lanka beat Pakistan in 2nd Test, level series 1-1

Galle: Babar Azam's 81 went in vain as Sri Lanka registered a resounding 246-run win over Pakistan on the final day of the second Test to draw level the two-match series 1-1, at the Galle International Stadium, here on Thursday.

The architect of Sri Lanka's crucial win was left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya, who has been making waves in Test cricket since his debut earlier this month. In just six Test innings, he has accumulated 29 wickets, including four five-wicket hauls and a 10-wicket match-haul.

The wily spinner picked up 3/80 in the first innings, which included the wickets of the dangerous Babar Azam (16) and Agha Salman (62), who top-scored in the first innings. Along with Ramesh Mendis' five-for, Sri Lanka were able to restrict Pakistan to just 231, securing a 147-run first-innings lead.

The hosts then put up a commanding batting performance led by centurion Dhananjaya de Silva (109) to set Pakistan a daunting target of 508. The visitors had put on a confident 89/1 at the end of day four.

Resuming the final day's play with the threat of rain looming large, Pakistan had their task cut out to save the Test - given that victory was a distant possibility with 419 runs needed.

After losing Imam ul Haq early in the day for 49, Babar and Mohammad Rizwan had kept the visitors steady. The duo put on a terrific partnership of 78 runs between them and helped Pakistan see off the first hour of the day with ease.

Prabath Jayasuriya finished with a match haul of 8/197, while Ramesh Mendis registered a match haul of 9/148.

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 378 (Dinesh Chandimal 80, Niroshan Dickwella 51; Naseem Shah 3-58, Yasir Shah 3-83) & 360/8 (Dhananjaya de Silva 109, Angelo Mathews 35, Karunaratne 61; Naseem Shah 2-44, Mohammad Nawaz 2-75) beat Pakistan 231 (Agha Salman 62, Imam ul Haq 32; Ramesh Mendis 5-47, Prabath Jayasuriya 3-80) & 261 (Babar Azam 81, Imam ul Haq 49; Prabath Jayasuriya 5-117, Ramesh Mendis 4-101) by 246 runs.

Also read: India cruise to ODI series sweep against West Indies

Also watch: