Leg-spinner Yasir Shah claimed five for 95 as Pakistan halted Sri Lanka’s march toward a big first-innings lead in the second Test at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo, Sri Lanka, yesterday.
Shah made up for the absence of injured paceman Wahab Riaz to keep Sri Lanka down to 304-9 by stumps on the second day in reply to the tourists’ modest 138.
Opener Kaushal Silva top-scored with 80 and skipper Angelo Mathews made 77, but Sri Lanka lost six wickets for 112 runs after at one stage being 191-3.
Photo: AFP
Rangana Herath (10) and last man Dushmantha Chameera (0) are to resume today with their team leading by 166 runs on a pitch that is giving the spinners plenty of bounce and turn.
Pakistan missed Wahab, who has been ruled out for the rest of the series with a hairline fracture in his left hand that he received while batting on Thursday.
Wahab bowled nine overs on the first day, but did not take the field yesterday, leaving Pakistan a strike bowler short.
Yasir, whose seven-wicket haul in Sri Lanka’s second innings fashioned Pakistan’s 10-wicket victory in the first Test in Galle, once again tormented the rival batsmen.
He had Lahiru Thirimanne caught at short-leg by Azhar Ali for 7 before lunch and then bowled both Dinesh Chandimal (1) and Kithuruwan Vithanage (3) in the afternoon session.
Yasir’s dismissal of Mathews gave the leg-spinner his 50th wicket in only nine Tests, making him the fastest Pakistan bowler to reach the mark.
Yasir said he derived his confidence from an encouraging tweet by Australia legend Shane Warne, whom he regards as his idol.
Warne had tweeted last year after watching Shah bowl on television: “I like the look of this leggie Yasir Shah, plenty of energy and nice variations of pace.”
“His words actually put me under pressure to live up to his appreciation and it has been good so far,” the 29-year-old said.
Silva and Mathews put on 72 for the fourth wicket to take the score to 191-3, before three wickets crashed in the space of 11 runs to open up the tail.
Silva was run out when he drove Zulfiqar Babar to mid-on and charged down the wicket for a sharp single, only for Mathews to send him back.
Kumar Sangakkara, who resumed on 18, had made 34 when he attempted a big hit off left-arm spinner Babar and was caught at long-on by Asad Shafiq.
Sri Lanka were tottering at 202-6 when tail-ender Dhammika Prasad helped Mathews add 73 runs for the seventh wicket to boost the total.
Both batsmen were dismissed in successive overs as Prasad was trapped leg before by Mohammad Hafeez for 35 and Mathews fell in similar fashion against Yasir.
Hafeez, who was reported after the Galle Test for a suspect action and is likely to be tested next week, sent down 10 overs that cost only 19 runs.
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