Published: Jun 26, 2015, 05:08 PM (IST)
Edited: Jun 26, 2015, 05:08 PM (IST)
Leg-spinner Yasir Shah claimed another five wickets as Pakistan restricted Sri Lanka for 304 for the loss of nine wickets in the second Test at the P Sara Oval in Colombo on Friday. Riding on Angelo Mathews and Kaushal Silva‘s half-centuries, Sri Lanka took a lead of 166. Rain halted a Test match once again in Sri Lanka, as stumps were called. Live Blog Updates: Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, 2nd Test, Day 2
Sri Lanka, who resumed after tea at 231 for the loss of six, in reply to Pakistan’s 138. They lost three quick wickets in their post-lunch session. Rangana Herath and Dushmantha Chameera were not out on 10 and 0 respectively.
Mathews was trapped leg before wicket by Yasir Shah for 77, as the leg spinner picked up his 50th Test wicket. Dhammika Prasad was trapped leg before by Mohammad Hafeez. He scored 35. Yasir Shah became the quickest Pakistan cricketer to claim 50 Test wickets, inside nine matches. Live Cricket Scorecard: Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, 2nd Test at Colombo, Day 2
Yasir, whose seven-wicket haul in Sri Lanka’s second innings fashioned Pakistan’s 10-wicket victory in the first Test in Galle, tormented the rival batsmen once again. Earlier, he had Lahiru Thirimanne caught at short-leg by Azhar Ali for seven before lunch, and then bowled both Dinesh Chandimal and Kithuruwan Vithanage on resumption. Yasir yorked Chandimal with a faster delivery and Vithanage fell to an ungainly reverse sweep, failing to connect bat to ball. Wahab Riaz ruled out of Sri Lanka Test series due to hairline fracture
Opener Kaushal Silva, who hit a century in Galle, once again proved his team’s star performer with a solid 80. Silva and Mathews put on 72 for the fourth wicket to take the score to 191-3 when three wickets crashed in the space of 11 runs to open up the tail. Silva was run out when he drove Zulfiqar Babar to mid-on and charged down the wicket for a sharp single, only for Mathews to send him back.
Kumar Sangakkara, who resumed on 18 at the team’s overnight score of 70-1, made 34 when he attempted a big hit off left-arm spinner Babar and was caught at long-on by Asad Shafiq. Sangakkara, 37, has still not responded to media speculation that he will retire after playing the first two Tests against Pakistan and one against India in August.
Pakistan missed pace spearhead Wahab Riaz, who did not take the field on the second day after being ruled out for the rest of the series due to a fracture in the left hand sustained while batting on Thursday.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 138 (Mohammad Hafeez 42, Azhar Ali 26; Dhammika Prasad 3 for 43, Tharindu Kaushal 5 for 42) trail Sri Lanka 304 for 9 (Kaushal Silva 80, Kumar Sangakkara 34, Angelo Mathews 77; Yasir Shah 5 for 95) by 166 runs.
(Sudatta Mukherjee is a reporter with CricketCountry. Other than writing on cricket, she spends penning random thoughts on her blog. When she is not writing, you will catch her at a movie theatre or watching some English television show on her laptop. Her Twitter handle is @blackrosegal)
