Sri Lanka lost three quick wickets after they dismissed Pakistan for 299 on the second morning of the third and final cricket Test in Colombo yesterday.
Malinda Warnapura was bowled first ball by Umar Gul and Tharanga Paranavitana was removed in similar fashion by Pakistan captain Younus Khan to make Sri Lanka 23-2.
Skipper Kumar Sangakkara, who led a charmed life while making 45, was trapped leg-before by off-spinner Saeed Ajmal with the last ball of the session as Sri Lanka went to lunch on a shaky 63-3.
PHOTO: AP
Sangakkara was dropped twice on 16 and 40, both times by Khurram Manzoor in the gully region off young left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Aamer.
Mahela Jayawardene, who began by flicking his first ball from Younus to the square-leg fence, was unbeaten at the break on 10 after adding 40 for the third wicket with Sangakkara.
Sri Lanka are aiming for a clean sweep of the three-match series after winning the previous two Tests.
The tourists, who resumed at the overnight score of 289-7, lost their last three wickets in 22 balls for the addition of just 10 runs.
Left-arm seamer Thilan Thushara finished with 5-83, his maiden five-wicket haul in seven Tests, while Nuwan Kulasekera claimed 3-47.
The overnight pair of Kamran Akmal and Danish Kaneria were dismissed before a run had been scored in the morning.
Kaneria was trapped leg-before by Kulasekera with the third delivery of the day and Akmal was bowled by Thushara in the next over.
The last-wicket pair of Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Aamer scored 10 runs before Thushara terminated the innings by bowling Ajmal for eight.
Tillakaratne Dilshan, keeping wicket for Sri Lanka in the series because of an injury to Prasanna Jayawardene, was unable to take the field yesterday after sustaining a finger injury the previous day.
Sangakkara, who doubles up as wicketkeeper in limited-overs matches, took over from Dilshan behind the stumps for the brief period Pakistan batted.
■WINDIES V BANGLADESH
AFP, ST GEORGE’S
Bangladeshi stand-in captain Shakib Al Hasan led from the front with 96 not out as his side beat the West Indies in the second and final Test at St George’s, Grenada, on Monday, declaring the 2-0 series win was the biggest thing for the side in nine years.
Shakib hit the winning runs in style with a six to seal a first ever series win away from home — admittedly against a weakened and inexperienced West Indies side after the senior players boycotted the series over a pay dispute — and the first time they have won two successive Tests.
Shakib and Raqibul Hasan made 65 — both career bests — to set things up for the Tigers, as they successfully chased 215 for victory to win by four wickets and claim only their second ever series win.
“In our nine years, this is the biggest thing that has happened to Bangladesh cricket,” said Shakib, who also hit 13 fours in 96 from 97 balls in a little over two-and-a-half hours to make him a shoe-in for the Man-of-the-Match award.
Bangladesh were wobbling on 67 for four about half-hour before the tea break, but Shakib joined Raqibul and they put Bangladesh solidly on course for victory with a stand of 106 for the fifth wicket either side of tea.
Raqibul reached his 50 from 74 balls, when he steered Dave Bernard Jr to third man for his seventh fourth.
About 25 minutes later, Shakib arrived at his landmark, when he drove Kemar Roach for his seventh boundary and the first of three in succession in the fast bowler’s 11th over.
But Raqibul became the fourth of five wickets for 55 runs in 16 overs for Darren Sammy, when he gave an easy return catch with Bangladesh still needing 44.
He batted for a shade under three hours, faced 99 balls and struck eight fours and one six.
Diminutive wicketkeeper/batsman Mushfiqur Rahim joined Shakib and inched Bangladesh closer in the 40 minutes he spent at the crease before he drove back a simple return catch to Sammy to leave the Tigers 14 short, but they had no last-minute jitters and duly crossed over the threshold.
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