Sri Lanka vs. Pakistan, 2nd ODI: Highlights, Scorecard and Report

Sri Lanka levelled the ODI series with Pakistan by successfully chasing down 288 for victory in Pallekele.

Pakistan’s total looked an imposing one, but they had not banked on Kusal Perera bludgeoning a stunning half-century, which set the platform for the home side to secure a two-wicket win.

"

#SLvsPAK pic.twitter.com/PG4YsUH6Ar

— susai surender S (@surenmcj) July 15, 2015"

Pakistan, who eased home in the first ODI of the series, made a circumspect start with the bat after winning the toss.

Angelo Mathews bowled with consistent accuracy to keep the Pakistan openers on a tight leash.

After being tied down by the seamers for the best part of 14 overs, Ahmed Shehzad attempted to slog debutant spinner Sachith Pathirana out of the park but only succeeded in edging the ball into his stumps.

Shehzad’s opening partner Azhar Ali also struggled early on, and he saw Mohammad Hafeez and Babar Azam depart, but he found a partner in Shoaib Malik, and they put on a welcome 83 runs.

Both Malik and Ali departed in quick succession, but their partnership injected momentum.

It was momentum that breathed life into the Pakistan innings and allowed Mohammad Rizwan and Anwar Ali to launch an attack in the latter stages of the innings.

The normally ultra-reliable Lasith Malinga was punished in the closing stages, the 47th over went for 20, while Sri Lanka’s fielding also fell below their high standards as Pakistan posted 287 for eight in their 50 overs.

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Minutes	Balls
Azhar Ali	c Siriwardana b Dilshan	79	159	104
Ahmed Shehzad	b Pathirana	30	55	43
Mohammad Hafeez	c Mathews b Pathirana	9	17	15
Babar Azam	b Siriwardana	12	21	19
Shoaib Malik	b Mathews	51	49	51
Mohammad Rizwan	lbw b Pradeep	52	56	38
Sarfraz Ahmed	lbw b Malinga	7	10	9
Anwar Ali	not out	29	41	20
Yasir Shah	c Siriwardana b Malinga	1	3	2
Rahat Ali	not out	0	4	0
Extras	(b 4, lb 3, w 9, nb 1)	17
Total	(8 wickets; 50 overs)	287
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
AD Mathews	10	2	36	1
N Pradeep	8	1	42	1
NLTC Perera	2	0	15	0
SL Malinga	10	0	64	2
S Pathirana	9	0	70	2
TAM Siriwardana	5	0	22	1
TM Dilshan	6	0	31	1

Kusal Perera set about the chase with relish and blasted his way to the second-fastest fifty in ODI history, in 17 balls, to give Sri Lanka a platform.

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Kusal Perera Just Smashed 17 Balls fifty which is 2nd Fastest in ODI and this how he did 0, 4, 1, 4, 0, 4, 4, 0, 6, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 0, 4, 4

— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) July 15, 2015"

Kusal Perera did not ease off the gas, but he fell to Mohammad Irfan, who he had blasted all round Pallekele earlier in the innings, for a 25-ball 68.

The assault from Perera at the top of the innings placed Sri Lanka in a comfortable position. The run rate was below six an over, and Tillakaratne Dilshan looked to be managing the chase, but—having eased to 47—he dragged a ball from Rahat Ali onto his stumps.

Sri Lanka skipper Mathews ran himself out after a misunderstanding with Lahiru Thirimanne, who committed the cardinal sin of getting out in the following over.

The home side were tottering at six down and needed a partnership. They found it through Dinesh Chandimal and Pathirana. The pair mixed attack and defence and put on 52 to edge Sri Lanka toward their victory target.

The pendulum swung back Pakistan’s way when Pathirana charged down the wicket to Hafeez and was stumped by Sarfraz Ahmed.

Chandimal, though, kept his head, and with the aid of Thisara Perera and Malinga guided Sri Lanka home with 11 balls remaining.

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls
MDKJ Perera	c Yasir Shah b Mohammad Irfan	68	25
TM Dilshan	b Rahat Ali	47	63
WU Tharanga	b Rahat Ali	28	36
AD Mathews	run out (Babar Azam/†Sarfraz Ahmed)	8	11
HDRL Thirimanne	c Anwar Ali b Rahat Ali	4	8
LD Chandimal	not out	48	63
AM Siriwardana	lbw b Mohammad Hafeez	26	28
SS Pathirana	st †Sarfraz Ahmed b Mohammad Hafeez	33	28
NLTC Perera	c Shoaib Malik b Anwar Ali	15	22
SL Malinga	not out	2	5
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Mohammad Irfan	10	0	61	1
Rahat Ali	9.1	0	73	3
Mohammad Hafeez	10	0	61	2
Anwar Ali	7	0	33	1
Yasir Shah	10	0	51	0
Shoaib Malik	2	0	7	0

The focus of the two sides will turn to Colombo, Sri Lanka, for the third match of the series, which takes place on Sunday.