Sri Lanka removed Pakistan’s openers early to gain an upper hand on the second day of the third and final Test against Pakistan at Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates yesterday.
Sri Lanka, seeking a series-leveling win after losing the second Test by nine wickets in Dubai, removed Mohammad Hafeez (6) and Taufiq Umar (19) as Pakistan closed on 35-2 in reply to their rivals’ first innings total of 413.
The first Test in Abu Dhabi ended as a draw.
Photo: AFP
Pakistan looked shaky from the start as Hafeez was dismissed in the fifth over of the innings, edging an outgoing delivery from left-arm paceman Chanaka Welegedara to slip for Mahela Jayawardene to take a simple catch.
Left-arm spinner Rangana then struck in his third over, inducing Umar to come out of the crease and had him stumped by wicketkeeper Kaushal Silva, much to the disappointment of a holiday crowd of near 8,000 made up of Pakistan expats.
At the close, Azhar was unbeaten on 10 and Younis Khan had yet to get off the mark, as Pakistan still trail by 378 runs.
Earlier, Saeed Ajmal led Pakistan’s fightback with 4-132 after Sri Lanka, well placed at 300-3, lost five wickets in the space of 59 runs, before they were guided past 400 by a ninth-wicket stand of 54 between Silva (39) and Herath 34 not out.
Umar Gul ably supported Ajmal with 3-76, but late additions to the Sri Lanka total frustrated Pakistan, who had the upper hand in the first two sessions.
Pakistan knew they had to remove Sangakkara to make inroads into the Sri Lanka middle-order after they dismissed Angelo Mathews for 17 in the last over before lunch, caught behind off left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman.
It was Ajmal who finally provided Pakistan with the prized wicket of the stylish left-hander when his delivery jumped on Sangakkara, who failed to keep a pull down and was caught in the slip by Younis Khan after making 144.
Sangakkara hit 13 fours and two sixes during his 344-ball knock, which began in the first over of the match on Thursday. This was his second century of the series following an epic match-saving 211 in Abu Dhabi.
Sangakkara put on 84 for the third wicket with Jayawardene (39) and another 39 with Mathews for the fourth after Sri Lanka resumed at 245-2.
Jayawardene managed to add just seven to his overnight score of 32 before being given LBW off paceman Khan. Jayawardene hit two boundaries during his highest score of the series.
Sangakkara and Mathews negotiated Pakistan’s pace-spin attack with confidence, taking Sri Lanka past the 300-mark in the penultimate over before lunch.
However, Pakistan struck in the last over before lunch as they got the second wicket in the session, with Sri Lanka managing 55 runs in two hours.
Ajmal also dismissed debutant Kosala Kulasekara, LBW for 15, while Gul struck to remove Suraj Randiv for 1.
Ajmal finally broke the ninth-wicket stand by dismissing Silva, while Gul wrapped up the innings when he bowled Welegedara for a duck.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set