Mohammad Yousuf hit a fluent century on his return to big-time cricket to put Pakistan ahead in the first Test against Sri Lanka yesterday.
Yousuf made 112 and Misbah-ul Haq chipped in with 56 as Pakistan, replying to Sri Lanka’s 292, recovered from 80-4 to post 342 in their first innings on the second day at the Galle International Stadium.
Sri Lanka, trailing by 50 runs, failed to score from the one over bowled by Mohammad Aamer in their second knock before stumps were drawn for the day.
PHOTO: AFP
Pakistan’s lead left the match evenly poised on a wicket that appeared to have eased out after helping the seamers with bounce and movement on the first day.
Yousuf, who turns 35 next month, was playing his first Test match since December 2007 after being banned by the Pakistan board for his involvement with the unauthorized Indian Cricket League.
But the prolific right-hander was rehabilitated with a call-up for the current tour after breaking links with the rebel body and repaid the selectors’ faith with his 24th Test century.
The bearded 80-Test veteran hit 11 boundaries en route to his first Test hundred against Sri Lanka when he was run out in the final session attempting a cheeky single.
Sri Lanka were convinced Yousuf should have departed on 57 when he edged left-arm spinner Rangana Herath and the ball carried off the batsman’s bat and pad to makeshift wicket-keeper Tillakaratne Dilshan.
Television replays showed Yousuf was out, but Australian umpire Daryl Harper turned down the confident appeal from the bowler and close-in fielders.
Pakistan, who began the day at 15-2, lost two quick wickets before Yousuf and Misbah resurrected the innings by adding 139 for the fifth wicket.
When Misbah fell shortly before tea, caught in the slips off Herath, former captain Shoaib Malik (38) helped Yousuf put on 75 for the sixth wicket.
Kamran Akmal hit 31, but Pakistan lost their last five wickets for 48 runs.
Seamer Nuwan Kulasekera finished with 4-71, but mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis went wicketless from 25 overs in which he conceded 89 runs.
Abdur Rauf, who took two wickets on his Test debut on Saturday, proved his batting worth as a nightwatchman by scoring 31 of Pakistan’s first 40 runs in the morning session.
Rauf put on 50 for the third wicket with skipper Younus Khan when he fell to Kulasekera, caught by Dilshan before the drinks break.
Dilshan was forced to don the gloves because first choice Prasanna Jayawardene was unavailable because of injury and skipper Kumar Sangakkara, the one-day ’keeper, preferred to guide the bowlers from the outfield.
Dilshan took his second catch four overs later when debutant Angelo Mathews struck in his first over to remove a tentative Younus for 25.
The three-match series is the first between the two nations since armed gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan team bus in the Pakistani city of Lahore on March 3 while the squad was en route to resume a Test match.
The attack injured seven Sri Lankan players and killed eight local security men.
A seven-year-old horse had to be euthanized on Friday after breaking its back on the final fence of a Grand National steeplechase race that it won despite sustaining the serious injury. It follows the death of four horses at the Cheltenham Festival last month — including one after the prestigious Gold Cup. Gold Dancer was competing in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase during Ladies Day at Aintree’s Grand National Festival. The horse managed to cross the finish line approximately four lengths ahead of runner-up Regent’s Stroll. “The winner of our second race of the day, Gold Dancer, was pulled up after
Taiwanese gymnast Tang Chia-hung on Sunday topped the men’s horizontal bar event at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, scoring 15.233 to take his third title this season. Tang delivered an outstanding performance in the final, earning a difficulty score of 6.500 and an execution score of 8.633 with a 0.1 stick bonus. His closest competitor was Milad Karimi of Kazakhstan, who finished second with 14.933 points. It was Tang’s third gold medal in the FIG World Cup series this year, following his horizontal bar wins in Azerbaijan on March 8, and in Turkey on March
The Daredevils yesterday took eight catches in the final as they eked out a victory in the Taiwan Cricket Triangular Tournament against PCCT at Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. PCCT’s batting lineup collapsed after they asked the Daredevils to bowl in the T20 decider of the weekend tournament that also involved the Formosa Cricket Club. PCCT were bundled out for 76 in 16.2 overs against a disciplined Daredevils attack. Ninad Malwade was the top scorer in the innings with 21, but he was among those who offered chances to the fielders. Shane Ferreira and Jason Cameron took three wickets each, with
OBJECTIVE REACHED: ’Now for us, it’s about getting healthy, making sure everybody is ready to go, and we can ramp up,’ the Atlanta Hawks’ C.J. McCollum said after the game The Atlanta Hawks on Friday secured an NBA playoff berth with a 124-102 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers as the Boston Celtics locked up the Eastern Conference second seed with a lopsided win of their own. C.J. McCollum scored a game-high 29 points for the Hawks, who came into the contest at sixth in the East and still in danger of falling into the play-in tournament that would see the seventh-through 10th-placed teams battle for the last two playoff berths in each conference. Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson scored 18 points apiece, and Dyson Daniels added a triple-double of 13
RSS