Published: Jul 07, 2015, 12:05 PM (IST)
Edited: Jul 07, 2015, 12:08 PM (IST)
Pakistan go to lunch at 321 for three, needing a further 56 runs to win the 3rd Test at Pallekele against Sri Lanka. Shan Masood was the only batsman dismissed for 125 after he was stumped off the bowling of Tharindu Kaushal in his very first over of the day. This was Masood’s first ever ton in international cricket. Live Blog: Sri Lanka vs Pakistan 3rd Test, Day 5 at Pallekele
Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq has seemed to have shrugged off his groin strain as he has walked in in his regular No.5 position. He batted at No.7 in the first innings. Younis Khan is still batting on 142 and he will look to remain unbeaten till the end of the innings. Younis survived a scare when Sri Lanka took a review against him for a close LBW appeal. But the umpire’s decision stood and he fought on from there. This after Sri Lanka had taken the second new ball immediately after the 80th over. Live scorecard: Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, 3rd Test Day 5 at Pallekele
Pakistan still have a strong batting line-up with the likes of Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz Ahmed to follow. Sarfraz top-scored for Pakistan in the first innings with an unbeaten 78. Pakistan will hope that their services are not required. A win for Pakistan will result in a 2-1 series win in the three-match series.
Sri Lanka scored 278 in the first innings, courtesy of a century from Dimuth Karunaratne. Pakistan conceded a 63-run lead as they were bowled out for 213. Sri Lanka then replied with 313, with their skipper Angelo Mathews scoring a magnificent century, which set Pakistan a target of 377. Pakistan had a few hiccups in the beginning as they lost Ahmed Shehzad and Azhar Ali early. But Younis and Masood took the game completely away from Pakistan through their superb centuries. Sri Lanka are perhaps missing the services of Rangana Herath in this game, who was dropped after he performed poorly in the first two games.
On Day One, Pakistan had won the toss and elected to field first. Both teams have made four changes going into this game.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka: 278 (Dimuth Karunaratne 130, Upul Tharanga 46; Rahat Ali 3 for 74, Yasir Shah 5 for 78) & 313 (Angelo Mathews 122, Dinesh Chandimal 67; Imran Khan 5 for 58, Yasir Shah 2 for 80) lead Pakistan 213 ( Azhar Ali 52, Sarfraz Ahmed 78*; Dhammika Prasad 3 for 78, Nuwan Pradeep 3 for 29, Tharindu Kaushal 3 for 37) & 321 for 3 (Shan Masood 125, Younis Khan 142*; Dhammika Prasad 1 for 51, Suranga Lakmal 1 for 41) by 55 runs
(Pramod Ananth is a reporter at CricketCountry. He has represented Karnataka table tennis under-15, and is a hardcore supporter of Liverpool FC. His Twitter handle is @pramz)
