2nd ODI: Sri Lanka beats Pakistan by 2 wickets

DUBAI: Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan by 2 wickets in the second One Day International (ODI) to level the series 1-1 here on Friday, ARY News reports.

Angelo Mathews, Captain of Sri Lanka, won the toss and chose to field first.

Pakistani batsmen Sharjeel Khan and Sohaib Maqsood, heroes in the first ODI, failed to perform in the second encounter. Ahmed Shehzad and Captain Misbah-ul-Haq strengthened the position by contributing a 105 run partnership.

Shehzad scored his fourth ODI ton of his career. He scored 124 runs in the match.

In the closing stages of the innings, Shahid Afridi displayed his outrageous batting skills and scored 30 runs. Misbah played a Captain's knock of unbeaten 59 runs to take the side to 284.

Misbah-ul-Haq also became the highest run scorer in a calendar year by overtaking Virat Kohli of India.

Sri Lanka started their reply in a confident fashion. The Lankan openers Kusal Parera and Tillakaratne Dilshan were run out after contributing 14 and 47 runs respectively. Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews brought the side closer to the target.

Junaid Khan took three wickets to bring the Green Shirts back into the game. Shahid Afridi dismissed Mathews to turn the match into a nail-biter but Sri Lanka managed to maintain their cool and won the match by 2 wickets.

Angelo Mathews was named the Man of the Match.

The third ODI will be played at Sharjah on Sunday.