Old guards Mathews and Chandimal put Sri Lanka in strong position

Centuries by Angelo Mathews (141) and Dinesh Chandimal (107) lifted Sri Lanka into a position of strength, reaching 410 for 6 at the end of the second day’s play of their only Test match against Afghanistan here at the SSC grounds yesterday.

Having bowled out the tourists for 198, despite Rahmat Shah’s belligerent 91 at the top, Sri Lanka sailed smoothly, withering early Afghan threats to take a first innings lead of 212 with four wickets in hand.

Afghanistan bowlers made significant inroads on the morning of the second day, dismissing Sri Lanka’s top three batters before the lunch break and hitting back once again with three wickets later in the day. Their bowlers bowled at improved lines and lengths and were rewarded with three quick wickets in the morning session.

But the two old-guards, Mathews and Chandimal made sure that Sri Lanka ended the day with a substantial lead, sharing a punishing fourth wicket stand of 232—a new ground record. The previous best for the fourth wicket at SSC was 230, shared by Arjuna Ranatunga and Asanka Gurusinha against Australia in 1992.

Mathews reached his 16th Test century and Chandimal scored his 15th during their massive stand and more importantly put the Afghan team firmly on the back foot. With three wickets down and still trailing 50 runs, the duo batted sensibly. They settled into a rhythm, picked off the singles, rotated strike and waited for the bad balls to put away.

Their maturity and class were on display as they beautifully placed their innings to leave Sri Lanka firmly placed in their maiden game against the inexperienced Afghan Test side.

However, Sri Lanka lost Chandimal and skipper Dhananjaya de Silva in successive deliveries in the 79th over of the day—a huge consolation for the Afghan camp, desperately looking to end Sri Lanka’s run feast on a placid batting track.

Seamer Naveed Zadran finally killed the Mathews-Chandimal stand, as a good length delivery just outside off kissed Chandimal’s blade while he was trying to defend and Sri Lanka lost its fourth wicket at 380.

He reached his century with a boundary through mid-on and celebrated by rocking the bat, perfectly complimenting Mathews who had stood like a wall, unfazed by any threat from the Afghan bowlers. When Chandimal finally fell for 107 off 181 deliveries, he had hit 10 boundaries and one massive six off mid-on. Dhananjaya, who is leading the Test side for the first time, returned to the dressing room without scoring, having gifted his wicket after a mid-pitch confusion. After driving Zadran to mid-off, Dhananjaya set off for a single but Mathews, watching the fielder, sent his partner who was half way through the pitch back. A direct hit found him well short of the crease.

Mathews was determined to make this inning count. He was on 141, having faced 259 balls when he was out hit-wicket in the last over of the day. Mathews went deep in the crease and pulled a losener down the leg side off Qais Ahmad, hard through backward square leg, but he could not control his bat swing as it hit the stumps.

By then, the veteran batter had stroked 14 boundaries and three sixes. Sadeera Samaraweera remained unbeaten on 21 off 22 balls when umpires called on stumps at the fall of Mathews’s wicket. For Afghanistan Naveed Zadran and Qais Ahmed picked up two wickets each while Nijat Masood claimed one.

Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka and Kusal Mendis might rue their chances of missing on scoring big as they threw their wickets despite SSC pitch offering excellent conditions to pile on the runs. Notably, the dismissal of Karunaratne was a significant breakthrough for Afghanistan in that session. Karunaratne, who had aggressively scored 77 runs at a brisk pace, made a crucial error by coming down the track to a Qais Ahmad delivery, turning it into a full toss, and flicking it to short midwicket. Leg spinner Ahmad bowled predominantly flat and fast, offering little spin in an attempt to curb the scoring rate.

Karunaratne who was threatening, striking fluently, was livid with himself for playing straight to the short midwicket fielder when he could have dispatched the friendly full-toss into any parts of the ground. His 77—the 35th Test half-century came off 72 balls with 12 boundaries.

Madushka was the first to depart as he fell to a perfectly executed trap by Afghan seamer Naveed Zadran. Zadran induced an edge from Madushka, who glanced the ball off his hip to Noor Ali placed at the leg slip as Sri Lanka lost its first wicket on 93. Kusal Mendis, facing disciplined seam bowling from both Zadran and Nijat Masood, succumbed to impatience, falling victim to a well-executed bouncer by Masood, resulting in a top edge to fine leg.