Sri Lanka has beaten Pakistan by 246 runs in the second test at Galle to level the two test-match series at one apiece.
Trying to play out the final day after being set a mammoth total by the hosts, Pakistani batters looked in control early on until a usual collapse shattered their dreams of another famous draw.
Resuming on the overnight score of 89/1, Imam and Babar failed to see out the dangerous first hour. Sri Lanka struck in the third over of the morning when Ramesh Mendis removed Imam-ul-Haq off his first delivery of the day.
Imam, on 49, attempted a cut shot but ended up getting a faint edge and was caught by Niroshan Dickwella to end a 55-run partnership with Babar.
Rizwan was the next man to join his captain at the crease and the two made batting look easy for a while adding 79 runs together to give Pakistan a faint hope of a draw. Their dreams were dashed when Rizwan on 37, did not offer a shot to a Jayasuriya ball that struck his stumps.
Rizwan’s wicket triggered a mini collapse as three overs later, Fawad Alam (1) was run out after a mix-up with his captain while Agha Salman fell in the last over before lunch when Kusal Mendis took a brilliant catch at short leg.
What little hope Pakistan had of salvaging a draw against Sri Lanka to win the test series went out the window with Babar’s dismissal on 81 at the hands of Jayasuriya.
The tailenders managed to land some lusty blows but the result was never in doubt as Sri Lanka eventually bowled Pakistan out for 261 to win the match by a massive 246 runs.
Dhananjaya de Silva was named the player of the match while Prabath Jayasuriya was named player of the series for taking 17 wickets.
