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Sri Lanka levelled the series 1-1 with a crushing win, thanks to a convincing all-round performance in Karachi. Tillakaratne Dilshan hit a sparkling half-century to take Sri Lanka to a strong total, before Nuwan Kulasekara and Muttiah Muralitharan shot out the hosts cheaply. Salman Butt and Shoaib Malik resisted with a 108-run partnership, but Muralitharan removed Malik to trigger a stunning collapse.

Sri Lanka were much more disciplined today. Though they contrived to lose pole position time and again, someone did put up their hand up to help them tide over the various mini-crises. The attacking Dilshan made good for Sanath Jayasuriya's hit-wicket dismissal and Kumar Sangakkara's suicidal run-out. And after Dilshan's exit, Thilina Kandamby - who replaced Jehan Mubarak from the XI in the first ODI - took charge of the run-making, allowing out-of-form captain Mahela Jayawardene to find his bearing.

Pakistan's batsmen have been practising on shorter pitches to try and counter the threat of Ajantha Mendis in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, which begins on Tuesday at the National Stadium in Karachi.

Mendis, the quickest bowler to 50 ODI wickets, has been a dominant theme in Pakistan's thinking ahead of the short series. Pakistan have come across Mendis twice, once in the Asia Cup and then in the final of the four-nation Twenty 20 in Canada. Seven wickets in 14 overs in the two games means Pakistan aren't wrong to focus heavily on him.

One man who has succeeded against him is Misbah-ul-Haq, who made 76 in a losing cause during the Asia Cup and an unbeaten 23 in the Twenty20 final. The Pakistan vice-captain took 27 runs off 24 Mendis deliveries in Karachi last year, including two sixes and a four, before he was bowled slogging. He believes a similarly aggressive approach might help dent his effectiveness.