Sri Lanka negotiated a 153-run target, the threat of rain and a
brief batting stutter to eventually ease to a seven-wicket win over
Pakistan in the second Test at the P Sara Oval, levelling the
series with one match to go. Opener Dimuth Karunaratne's fifty and
his 72-run partnership with captain Angelo Mathews for the third
wicket was the calming influence in a chase that had got off to a
frenzied start.A wet outfield, the result of heavy overnight rain,
had delayed the start of the day's play by half an hour and with
the threat of rain looming over the final day, Sri Lanka played a
gambit, pushing the aggressive Kithuruwan Vithanage to open the
innings with Karunaratne.In the first innings, Vithanage had fallen
attempting an unnecessary reverse sweep at a crucial juncture. In
the second, he did the job he was sent out to do, starting with his
first ball off Junaid which was confidently flicked over midwicket
for four.By the time the lead spin pair of Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar
Babar was introduced into the attack, Sri Lanka had raced away to
28 off four overs, with Vithanage contributing 18. In Babar's
second over, Vithanage smacked a towering six straight down the
ground and followed it up with a slog-sweep for six over midwicket
off the next ball. Three deliveries later, he holed out to deep
midwicket attempting a similar shot.Off the next ball, the first of
Yasir Shah's second over, Kumar Sangakkara was done in a delivery
that spun in and took a deflection off the glove to short leg. The
wickets would have raised Pakistan's hope of making Sri Lanka's
chase a little tougher but Mathews and Karunaratne restored calm
with their partnership.There were a few opportunities for Pakistan
with run-out chances created but the pair motored along smoothly,
at a scoring-rate of 5.46 an over. Karunaratne fell two balls after
scoring a fifty off 55 deliveries but Sri Lanka were only 32 runs
adrift of the target at the time. Mathews' unbeaten 43 off 57
ensured there were no further hiccups for Sri Lanka.The third Test
begins in Pallekele on July 3.
