Sri Lanka levels ODI series with Pakistan following two-wicket win in fifth game

Sri Lanka has beaten Pakistan by two wickets in the fifth and the final one-day international and levelled the series in a match in which fortunes swung from one side to another in Dubai on Friday.

The win levelled the five-match series at 1-1 after Pakistan won the first match by 11 runs in Sharjah on Wednesday.

According to Sport24, after being set 285 to chase, Sri Lanka's late-order batsmen held their nerve with number ten batsman Sachitra Senanayake driving Pakistani veteran Shahid Afridi for boundary to seal a tense win for his team with two balls to spare.

The report mentioned that Sri Lanka needed 44 off the last six overs as captain Angelo Mathews (47) and Dimuth Karunaratne (16 not out) held their nerves during a match-turning 44-run stand for the eighth wicket.

Meanwhile, Ahmed Shehzad smashed a career best 124 off 140 balls for his fourth one-day century as Pakistan posted a challenging 284-4 in 50 overs, while Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara became the fourth batsman to complete 12,000 one-day runs in the game, his 359th match, after Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Sanath Jayasuriya.