Sorting a key value pair list in shell script

Question

I have a list in txt file as below
a 2
b 3
c 1
d 7
e 2

I need to write a script that will arrange the list in descending order of the value as below
d 7
b 3
a 2
e 2
c 1

I tried to sort this, but it sorts alphabetically, but doesn't sort by the second column value.

Could anyone please suggest me how to do this?

Answer 1

sort -k 2r file

-k 2r to sort in reverse using the second column.