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 Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that