GALLE, Sri Lanka — Dinesh
Chandimal and
Oshada Fernando hit half-centuries to drive Sri Lanka’s total
before Pakistan hit back with wickets to share the opening day honors in the
second Test on Sunday.
اضافة اعلان
Chandimal, who hit
80, put on key partnerships including a 75-run fourth-wicket stand with Angelo
Mathews, who fell short of 50 in his landmark 100th Test.
Sri Lanka reached
315 for six when bad light stopped play for the day, with the hosts electing to
bat first in their bid to bounce back from an opening loss in the two-match
series.
“If we can get 400
runs that will be a good total,” Oshada, who made 50, said after the day’s
play.
“That total will
help us to put Pakistan under pressure. We need to get that total.”
Wicketkeeper-batsman
Niroshan Dickwella, unbeaten on 42 off 43 balls, and debutant Dunith Wellalage,
on six, were batting after pace bowler Naseem Shah struck with the second new
ball.
Catches dropped
Naseem bowled
Dhananjaya de Silva for 32 and nearly got Dickwella on 24, but skipper Babar
Azam dropped his second catch of the day, this time at second slip.
Left-arm spinner
Mohammad Nawaz stood out for Pakistan with the two key wickets of Fernando and
Chandimal.
“The total is a
bit more than our expectations. We had opportunities come our way but could not
avail them,” Nawaz, who said it was “rare” to see Azam drop catches, told
reporters.
Nawaz added:
“There have been lapses, catches dropped, but still if we bowl them out in the
first hour tomorrow then hopefully the score would not be much.”
Nawaz expects the
nature of the pitch to change on days three and four, which could help the
opposition spinners be more effective in the Sri Lankan second innings.
Chandimal, who
made 206 not out, 76 and 94 not out in his previous two Tests, handled the
opposition spinners with aplomb until his departure on a pitch that turned on
day one.
Mathews started
well but failed to capitalize on a reprieve on 36, when Azam dropped an easy
catch at extra cover off left-arm spinner Nauman Ali.
Nauman came after
the tea break to get Mathews caught behind, with the batsman walking back to a
dressing room cheering his Test milestone.
Oshada and skipper
Dimuth Karunaratne, who made 40, started with a 92-run opening stand before
Nawaz broke through.
Oshada smashed
Nawaz for six to reach his seventh Test half-century, but got out caught behind
on the next ball.
“In the morning
Oshada attacked the spinners and he scored quickly,” said Nawaz. “Then the
partnership between Angelo Mathews and Chandimal was really effective for
them.”
Kusal Mendis
survived 11 balls and made three before being run out at the stroke of lunch
off a direct throw from Agha Salman, while the batsman was backing up at the
non-strikers’ end.
Karunaratne fell
to Yasir Shah’s leg spin after his attempted reverse sweep went to backward
point where Naseem took a sharp catch as Sri Lanka looked in trouble at 120–3.
Chandimal took
stock with Mathews and then De Silva in a partnership of 63 but a wild slog got
him caught at backward point off Nawaz.
Mathews, 35, was feted by
Sri Lanka Cricket and accompanied by his family at the start of the Test for
reaching his century of five-day matches since his debut at the same venue in
2009, also against Pakistan.
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