The Pakistan spinners got in on the act after pace duo Umar Gul and Junaid Khan ripped through the Sri Lankan top order to bundle out the tourists for 239 in their first innings on day one of the second Test yesterday.
Pakistan openers Taufeeq Umar (20) and Mohammad Hafeez (18) scored 42 runs in the remaining nine overs to trail Sri Lanka by 197 at the close.
Gul extracted enough movement off the Dubai International Cricket Stadium pitch to trouble the batsmen throughout his marathon 10-over opening spell, picking up three wickets before lunch.
Left-armer Junaid kept up the pressure and took the remaining two wickets to fall before the interval after Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan had won the toss.
Kumar Sangakkara, double-centurion in the drawn first Test, was dropped on 27 off Saeed Ajmal by Taufeeq Umar and added 54 for the sixth wicket with debutant wicketkeeper-batsman Kaushal Silva (20) to stop the rot, after being reduced to 73-5.
Sangakkara, who looked solid and hit 11 boundaries during his knock of 78, holed out in the deep attempting a big hit against Ajmal.
Off-spinner Ajmal (3-45) and fellow left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman (2-40) combined to take the last five wickets in the remaining two sessions to put Pakistan firmly in control.
No. 10 batsman Chanaka Welegedara (48), whose previous highest score in Tests was 11, added 75 for the ninth wicket with Rangana Herath (29) to take Sri Lanka past the 200-run mark.
Sri Lanka got off to a bad start when opener Lahiru Thirimanne fell LBW to Gul in the third over, before the lanky paceman struck twice in the ninth over to remove Tharanga Paranavitana and Mahela Jayawardene.
Junaid removed captain Dilshan and Angelo Mathews to compound Sri Lanka’s misery.
Pakistan made one change to their side, dropping paceman Aizaz Cheema in favor of Rehman.
Sri Lanka suffered a major blow before the match when wicketkeeper-batsman Prasanna Jayawardene was ruled out for the remainder of the series due to a stomach injury.
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday sparked defending champions Oklahoma City to victory, while Anthony Edwards led Minnesota’s last-minute fightback to beat San Antonio. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points while adding eight assists and five rebounds in the Thunder’s 124-112 home victory over Miami, improving the NBA’s best record to 33-7 after outscoring the Heat 70-53 in the second half. “We locked in defensively. We were finally able to get some stops,” Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins said. “We were able to get out in transition a little bit, get going offensively and find the flow.” Jalen Williams scored 18 points, while
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt knocked reigning champions Ivory Coast out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a 3-2 win in the quarter-finals on Saturday, while Victor Osimhen starred as Nigeria beat Algeria 2-0 to set up a clash with hosts Morocco. In Agadir, Morocco, a thrilling last-eight tie saw Omar Marmoush and Ramy Rabia net in the first half for the Pharaohs before an own goal by Ahmed Aboul-Fetouh brought the Ivorians back into it. Salah then got Egypt’s third early in the second half and they held on after Guela Doue again reduced the deficit. Egypt is to face Senegal
Brandon Miller scored 18 points, LaMelo Ball had 17 and the Charlotte Hornets built a 47-point lead in the first half of a 150-95 rout against the Utah Jazz on Saturday night. It was the second-biggest win in franchise history for the Hornets and their largest on the road. The Hornets bounced back from a pair of frustrating losses in a big way, having fallen to Toronto by one point and Indiana by two in their last two games. Charlotte pounded the NBA champion Thunder by 27 in Oklahoma City before those defeats, previously the Hornets’ most lopsided victory of the season. Tre
RSS