Another dominant day for the visitors. Silva and Jayawardene and Mathews turned the screw on Day 2 in Dubai and put Sri Lanka in a position from which they should easily win this Test match. Sarfraz Ahmed's dropped catch will do little for his confidence and the Ajmal's lack of effect is beginning to get more worrying.

By PakPassion Staff (9th January, 2013)

Toss: Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to field.

Teams:

Pakistan: 1. Khurram Manzoor, 2. Ahmed Shehzad, 3. Mohammad Hafeez, 4. Younis Khan, 5. Misbah-ul-Haq (c), 6. Asad Shafiq, 7. Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8. Bilawal Bhatti, 9. Rahat Ali, 10. Saeed Ajmal, 11. Junaid Khan


Sri Lanka: 1. Dimuth Karunaratne, 2. Kaushal Silva, 3. Kumar Sangakkara, 4. Mahela Jayawardene, 5. Dinesh Chandimal, 6. Angelo Mathews, 7. Prasanna Jayawardene, 8. Rangana Herath, 9. Shaminda Eranga 10. Suranga Lakmal, 11. Nuwan Pradeep

Pakistan started the day knowing they would have to take advantage of the early morning movement in the Dubai wicket if they were to have any hope of keeping Sri Lanka under their first innings score of just 165. However, Sri Lanka had Kumar Sangakkara and the in-form Kushal Silva at the crease and the two saw out the first five overs of the morning session, before Rahat Ali trapped Sangakkara lbw for 26.

Dinesh Chandimal came out to bat at number four as Mahela Jayawardene had injured the webbing in his hand in the slips the day before which required three stitches but he made only 12 before pulling a Junaid Khan short ball to Rahat Ali at long leg. Pakistan had claimed two wickets in the space of five overs and with the injured Mahela Jayawardene in next, the hopes of the fielding side would have been raised of knocking over the Sri Lankan batting line up in a manner similar to their own collapse.

However, the two batsmen at the crease played some attrition cricket as they looked to not repeat the mistakes Pakistan made yesterday, scoring 62 runs in the 26 overs bowled but more importantly, not losing any more wickets.

At lunch Sri Lanka were 132/3, trailing Pakistan’s first innings score by 33 runs, with Silva on 40 and Mahela Jayawardene on 19.

The post-lunch session continued to be dominated by Sri Lanka with both batsmen pushing the score along on a docile wicket. Silva reached his 50 with a pull through mid-wicket off Ajmal and the pair rotated the strike with ease. Rahat Ali was twice cut for four in the over before drinks and it put Sri Lanka into the lead.

Bilawal Bhatti looked to put pressure on the Sri Lankans with some aggressive short pitched bowling towards the end of the session but it was to no avail. Jayawardene brought up his 50 just before tea and it meant a wicketless session for the hosts.

At tea Sri Lanka were 215/3, leading by 50 runs, with Silva 92 not out and 40 and Mahela Jayawardene on 50.

Mohammad Hafeez was the man to get the breakthrough early in the evening session, trapping Silva LBW just five short of what would have been an excellent century. The new ball was taken not long after but Junaid's 2nd ball with it cut away through point, perhaps a sign of things to come.

Rahat Ali, who had been very unfortunate thus far in the day, found the edge of Mathews' bat but Sarfraz Ahmed was unable to latch on to a one handed opportunity. Mahela continued on his merry way, clipping Rahat through square leg before following it up with a dreamy on-drive. The boundaries kept coming for Sri Lanka and the lead crossed 100 midway through the evening session.

A late cut took Mahela Jayawardene to yet another Test century and along with Mathews, he comfortably saw his side through till the end of the day.

At the close, Sri Lanka were 318/4 and led by 153.

Day Two: Fall Of Wickets

Morning Session

2-75 Sangakkara, 21.1 overs
3-88 Chandimal, 26.3 overs


Afternoon Session

No wickets.

Evening Session

4-227 Silva, 77.5 overs

Another dominant day for the visitors. Silva and Jayawardene and Mathews turned the screw on Day 2 in Dubai and put Sri Lanka in a position from which they should easily win this Test match. Sarfraz Ahmed's dropped catch will do little for his confidence and the Ajmal's lack of effect is beginning to get more worrying.

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka in Dubai, 2nd Test, Day 3, play to commence at 6:00AM GMT on 10 January 2013

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