Pakistan grabbed three crucial wickets, including the key scalp of Kumar Sangakkara, to boost their chances of winning the second Test against Sri Lanka at Dubai Stadium on Saturday.
Published: Oct 29, 2011, 03:45 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 29, 2011, 03:45 PM (IST)
Sri Lanka need another 39 runs to avoid innings defeat in the second Test © AFP
Dubai: Oct 29, 2011
Pakistan grabbed three crucial wickets, including the key scalp of Kumar Sangakkara, to boost their chances of winning the second Test against Sri Lanka at Dubai Stadium on Saturday.
Pakistan dismissed Sangakkara (30) in the fourth over of the fourth day before dismissing Mahela Jayawardene (five) and skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan (three) to bolster their chances of taking a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series.
The first Test in Abu Dhabi, which finished last week, was drawn.
Sri Lanka, trailing by 164 runs in the first innings, went to lunch at 125-4 with opener Tharanga Paranavitana holding one end with an unbeaten 64 and Angelo Mathews on five not out, needing another 39 to avoid an innings defeat.
Pakistan’s pace-cum spin attack was ruthless in the session and, with three wickets being taken in the space of just 21 runs, put them firmly in a winning position.
Sri Lanka, who resumed at 88-1, had been hoping for Sangakkara to stay longer and thus keep Pakistan at bay as he did in the second innings of the first Test when he scored an epic 211.
But the experienced batsman was reduced to adding just a single to his overnight score of 29 when he didn’t offer a stroke to left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman’s incoming delivery and although he pushed too far New Zealand umpire Tony Hill adjudged him leg-before.
Sangakkara, who didn’t hit a single boundary, walked back in disgust.
Mahela Jayawardene then missed a sweep off spinner Saeed Ajmal and was bowled and Dilshan’s horrible form in the series continued when was trapped leg-before by paceman Junaid Khan three runs later.
Paranavitana, though, remained composed and reached his ninth half-century with a square driven boundary off Umar Gul. He has so far hit four boundaries during his patient 219-ball knock. (AFP)
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 239 and 125 for 4 (Kumar Sangakkara 78, Tharanga Paranavitana 64*; Saeed Ajmal 1 for 17, Junaid Khan 1 for 20) trail Pakistan 403 all-out (Azhar Ali 100, Younis Khan 55; Dhammika Prasad 3 for 104, Tillakaratne Dilshan 3 for 57) by 39 runs.
