Another slow day of Test cricket, but nine wickets did fall in the day and had Pakistan had a bit of luck or taken their catches, they could have retained an outside chance of registering an unlikely victory on the final day. For Sri Lanka, it was mission accomplished; they wrapped up the Pakistan innings with little fuss and the batsmen ensured they go into day five with wickets in hand and a lead in excess of 200.

By PakPassion Staff (19th January, 2014)

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

Teams:

Pakistan: 1. Khurram Manzoor, 2. Ahmed Shehzad, 3. Azhar Ali, 4. Younis Khan, 5. Misbah-ul-Haq (c), 6. Asad Shafiq, 7. Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8. Abdur Rehman, 9. Mohammad Talha, 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. Dilruwan Perera

Eranga struck early for Sri Lanka in the morning session, removing Rehman (2) off the first full over of the day, caught behind, and in his next over trapping Talha (2) lbw.

This left Misbah to bat with Ajmal and Junaid so the captain smashed Herath for two sixes before he was caught going for a slog sweep off the left-arm spinner for 63.

Junaid Khan had some fun, hitting Herath for two sixes in an over before giving Herath his five-fer. The spinner had shown good persistence and earned his reward with the batsmen looking to hit out at the end of the innings. Pakistan were bowled out for 341, giving Sri Lanka a lead of 87.

The Sri Lankan openers had eight overs to face before lunch and Talha's extra pace, which has troubled the Sri Lankan openers this Test, broke through Karunaratne's defences to bowl him.

Sri Lanka were 19/1 at lunch, with Silva on 6 and Sangakkara 5.

If Pakistan were to retain any hopes of victory, they knew that the bowlers would have to take quick wickets. Ten overs into the session Rehman got the wicket of Sangakkara, the left-armer had bowled into the rough and Sangakkara (8) opted to sweep, top-edging to Manzoor who took the catch.

Similar to their first innings, the Sri Lankan batsmen dropped anchor, looking to bat Pakistan out of the match and the series although the go-slow was punctuated with a six by Chandimal of Rehman and another maximum by Prasanna Jayawardene off Saeed Ajmal.

Rehman struck again with a beauty to remove the well-set Prasanna Jayawardene for 36, the ball pitching middle and hitting off stump and Pakistan had taken three wickets for just 66 runs.

Mahela Jayawardene and Dinesh Chandimal ensured Sri Lanka lost no more wickets and were 88/3 at the interval, with Jayawardene on 23 and Chandimal 13.

Mohammad Talha bowled Dinesh Chandimal in the first over after lunch with a pacy in-cutter that snuck through the gate for 13, but that was largely the end of the excitement for Pakistan in the session.

The wicket brought Mathews to the crease and he looked like a man intent on batting out the overs, maintaining a strike rate in the teens. Junaid Khan thought he'd got the Sri Lankan captain out after he played a rare attacking shot, but then Manzoor dropped an easy chance, much to the frustration of his captain and bowler.

Ajmal, who had flighted the ball well in the evening session, was rewarded with the wicket of Mahela Jayawardene, who scored a vital 42 for his team, the batsman edging on to his pad and Azhar Ali taking a sharp catch at short leg. The classical right-handed batsman had responded very well after receiving criticism for the manner of his dismissals in the first Test, showing his importance to the Sri Lankan side in each of the subsequent four innings he's played.

Pakistan had taken five Sri Lankan wickets for just 133 runs, but it's unlikely to be enough to push for a result with just one day remaining in the match and the overall lead being in excess of 200.


Day One: Fall Of Wickets

Morning Session

7-294 Abdur Rehman, 96.3 overs,
8-300 Mohammad Talha, 98.6 overs,
9-325 Misbah-ul-Haq, 107.1 overs,
10-341 Junaid Khan, 109.1 overs

1-13 Karunaratne, 5.1 overs



Afternoon Session

2-37 Sangakkara, 17.3 overs
3-66 Silva, 27.6 overs

Evening Session

4-89 Chandimal, 38.4 overs

Another slow day of Test cricket, but nine wickets did fall in the day and had Pakistan had a bit of luck or taken their catches, they could have retained an outside chance of registering an unlikely victory on the final day.

For Sri Lanka, it was mission accomplished; they wrapped up the Pakistan innings with little fuss and the batsmen ensured they go into day five with wickets in hand and a lead in excess of 200.

Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka in Dubai, 3rd Test, Day five to commence at 6:00AM GMT on 20th January, 2014.

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