Youhana used his experience to guide Pakistan home

Kumar Sangakkara's maiden one-day century was not enough to prevent defeat for Sri Lanka at the hands of a rejuvenated Pakistan in the Cherry Blossom Cup.

Rashid Latif's men raced to their second victory in the four-nation tournament in as many days thanks to a perfectly-judged stand from Yousuf Youhana and Younis Khan.

Youhana made 64 at a run a ball while Younis hit 57 off 49 balls in an unbroken partnership of 123 for the fourth wicket.

We knew Sri Lanka were a strong side, hence we did the homework Pakistan captain Rashid Latif More reaction

The pair had come together with a required run rate of six an over and Pakistan having lost two wickets to run outs in a single over.

But they responded to the pressure exerted by Sri Lanka's spinners to regain the initiative in emphatic style.

Sanath Jayasuriya was forced to bowl a full 10-over spell, and it was his slow left-armers that the duo targeted in their well-timed run chase.

Earlier, Sangakkara had reached 99 from the fourth ball of the final over in the Sri Lankan innings, hitting Mohammad Sami over point for four.

Sangakkara batted with great resolution in his innings

And a single off the next delivery brought him his first one-day ton in his 86th match.

Skipper Jayasuriya chose to bat first after winning the toss, with wicket-keeper/batsman Prasanna Jayawardene replacing retired veteran Aravinda de Silva.

New ball bowlers Umer Gul and Mohammad Sami each claimed an early wicket, with Sangakkara forced to consolidate early in his innings.

He lost partners at regular intervals with medium pacer Naved-ul-Hasan, on debut, snaring two quick wickets before Kumar Dharmasena finally provided enough resistance at the other end to help Sangakkara add 57 off the last eight overs.

We didn't get enough runs on the board - maybe another 40 or 50 would have made the difference Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya

Pakistan, in contrast, were able to keep wickets in hand throughout their innings largely thanks to a patient 50 from opener Mohammad Hafeez in his second one-day match.

Faisal Iqbal also contributed well with 32 and only one wicket fell to a Sri Lankan bowler, Dilhara Fernando bowling Taufeeq Umer for six.

Saturday's match sees Kenya make their tournament bow, in a match against Thursday's losers Zimbabwe.

Pakistan: Rashid Latif (captain), Taufeeq Umar, Mohammed Hafeez, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Faisal Iqbal, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Malik, Rana Naved-ul Hassan, Mohammed Sami, Umar Gul.

Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Marvan Atapattu, Avishka Gunawardene, Hashan Tillakaratne, Kumar Sangakkara, Jehan Mubarak, Kumar Dharmasena, Muttiah Muralitharan, Charitha Buddhika, Prasanna Jayawardene, Dilhara Fernando.