Lanka bowlers shine on Day 1
KARACHI: Pakistan fought back after being dismissed relatively cheaply on Thursday as bowlers dominated the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Karachi. Lahiru Kumara and Lasith Embuldeniya grabbed four wickets each to dismiss Pakistan for just 191 before the home team had the visitors at 64/3 at stumps at the National Stadium.
Pacer Kumara took 4/49 while left-arm spinner Embuldeniya finished with 4/71 after Pakistan won the toss. But Pakistan staged a fightback with the wickets of Oshada Fernando (four), Dimuth Karunaratne (25) and Kusal Mendis (13) leaving Sri Lanka still 127 runs behind on the first innings.
Lanky pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi had Fernando caught behind before Mohammad Abbas removed Karunaratne and Mendis. At stumps, Angelo Mathews was eight not out and nightwatchman Embuldeniya unbeaten on three.
Pakistan were well set at 127/3 with Babar Azam (60) and Asad Shafiq (63) involved in a 62-run stand for the fourth wicket but once Azam fell the home side lost their last six wickets for just 24 runs. Azam was shaping well after scoring his 13th half-century before Embuldeniya had him stumped off a well disguised delivery. Shafiq hooked Kumara tentatively to deep square-leg, ending Pakistan’s hopes of a big total in their bid to win the series after the first Test ended in a draw due to poor weather in Rawalpindi.
Kumara dismissed Mohammad Rizwan for four and Yasir Shah (nought) off successive deliveries in the first over after tea before Embuldeniya removed the tail.
Earlier, Sri Lanka left-arm pacer Vishwa Fernando dismissed opener Shan Masood for five and skipper Azhar Ali for a duck to rattle Pakistan at 10/2 in the morning. Fernando’s new ball partner Kumara dismissed first Test centurion Abid Ali for 38 to end a third-wicket partnership of 55 which had lifted Pakistan from a precarious 10/2.
Fernando thought he had Azam leg-before on four but TV referrals showed the ball hit the bat first. Azam reached his fourth half-century in the last five innings with a crisp boundary to cover off-spinner Dilruwan Perera but could not match his hundred in the first Test. Azam’s 96-ball knock contained eight boundaries and a six while Shafiq’s 126-ball stay had six boundaries. It was Fernando who provided Sri Lanka with early breakthroughs.
Brief scores: Pakistan 191 all out (A Shafiq 63, B Azam 60; L Kumara 4/49, L Embuldeniya 4/71) vs Sri Lanka 64/3 (Md Abbas 2/21) at stumps on Day 1.