Pallekele: Tillakaratne Dilshan batted through the innings with a century to take Sri Lanka to 280. Azhar Ali looked set to match Dilshan’s feat and nearly reached his maiden ODI ton.
Ultimately though, it was Thisara Perera’s six-wicket haul, aided by his own brilliant fielding, which helped Sri Lanka level the series after a disappointing showing on Thursday.
Pakistan gambled with their line-up by playing only five specialist batsmen in both games. In their chase of 281, their over-reliance on Azhar bit them. As the required rate increased, Azhar’s own strike-rate dipped. None of the others passed 50, the next highest being 27.
The Sri Lankans, on the hand, didn’t gamble with theirs. Thursday’s batting meltdown necessitated a reshuffle and the change gave the hosts a greater sense of security. It led to an efficient batting effort, led by Dilshan, who dropped anchor and batted with the intention of playing 50 overs. The foundation he provided allowed the likes of Mahela Jayawardene, dropping to No.5, the freedom to innovate in the slog overs.
Dilshan shared stands of 37 with Tharanga and 47 with Kumar Sangakkara.
Afridi trapped Chandimal lbw but there was no respite for Pakistan as what followed was Sri Lanka’s most productive partnership, of 86 between Dilshan and Jayawardene.
Though Dilshan slowed down after getting his century, it didn’t cause a slowdown as Perera tonked two fours and two sixes in a 14-ball 24 to lift Sri Lanka to a challenging score.
Sri Lanka’s seamers may have failed to make early inroads but Perera more than made up for that. He sent back Mohammad Hafeez off his first ball, flinging himself in the opposite direction of his follow through to pull off a return catch. He then had Younis Khan nicking to the wicketkeeper and later sparked Pakistan’s slide by trapping Misbah-ul-Haq lbw.
The boundaries dried up for Pakistan after the 20th over. Misbah’s departure left the inexperienced Azhar marshaling the unpredictable Umar Akmal and Afridi both of whom failed to turn the game around.
Sri Lanka’s emphatic comeback has set the series up nicely for the last three games in Colombo. (Agencies)