Sri Lanka have taken control of the second Test against Pakistan with Mahela Jayawardene's ton helping them reach 318-4 at stumps in Dubai, a lead of 153 runs.
Resuming their innings on 57-1 Sri Lanka piled on the runs on day two after Pakistan were all out for 165. Jayawardene and Kaushal Silva impressed in the middle, although the latter fell just short of his maiden century.
Silva, resuming on 12, was watchful in the morning as he advanced to 40 not out in a lunch score of 132-3. Kumar Sangakkara and Dinesh Chandimal were the batsmen whose wickets fell during the morning session.
Sangakkara followed up a streaky boundary down to third man with a rather more assured cover drive two balls later off Rahat Ali, but the bowler exacted revenge in his next over when he trapped the No 3 lbw for 26.
v
Chandimal got off the mark with an edge through a gap in the slip cordon for four, but he failed to make the most of his let-off when, on 12, he hooked Junaid Khan to Rahat at long leg.
Silva showed his team-mate how it was done in the next over, pulling Rahat through square leg for four, while Jayawardene, demoted to No 5 in the order after a poor run in Tests, looked assured.
The pair continued their solid form after lunch, gathering 83 runs without loss in the session.
Silva's fifty came in the 50th over with a pulled four off the otherwise tight Saeed Ajmal and his sixth boundary - a clean cut off Rahat - moved Sri Lanka into the lead.
The 27-year-old found the ropes four more times before the tea break, while
Jayawardene, playing within himself at the other end, reached fifty with a
single just before the interval.
Silva (95) soon departed once the final session began but Jayawardene stood firm to reach the close unbeaten on 106, his 32nd Test ton, while Angelo Mathews (42no) helped form yet another partnership to frustrate Pakistan.
No comments:
Post a Comment