Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman lead Pakistan’s recovery
A terrific century partnership between Saud Shakeel and Agha Salman helped Pakistan stage a commendable comeback in the opening Test against Sri Lanka. By stumps on day two, the visitors were trailing by 91 runs with the two set batters still at the crease. Pakistan had made a very poor start in their reply. While Abdullah Shafique had a lucky reprieve in the very first over, Imam-ul-Haq sliced one straight to point in the second over of the innings to give the hosts a big lift very early. Quite interestingly, Shan Masood went on a boundary hitting spree right from the outset to put Sri Lanka on the backfoot momentarily. Pakistan’s No.3 raced to 22 off 13 at one stage and the hosts had to introduce spin early in the innings. The ploy worked as Prabath Jaysuriya proved to be a menace to play against for Pakistan. Shafique edged one to first slip and Masood’s counterattacking innings came to an end immediately after he had smashed Ramesh Mendis for a six as the bowler trapped him leg-before-wicket. Skipper Babar Azam didn’t last long either as he inside-edged one onto the pad that was gobbled up by the wicketkeeper as Pakistan were reduced to 74/4. That quickly became 101/5 as Sarfaraz Ahmed fell after failing to connect a sweep shot against Jayasuriya. That’s when Shakeel and Salman joined forces to resurrect the innings. Their partnership mirrored the one Sri Lanka had on the opening day between Angelo Matthews and Dhananjaya de Silva when they were reeling at one stage. Salman flicked just the second ball he faced for a boundary and used his feet to good effect again against Jayasuriya to signal his intentions. The pair guided Pakistan to 132/5 by Tea but were tasked with a huge responsibility to see the day through in the final session. After a slightly delayed start following rain, the two batters continued from where they had left. Shakeel smashed Jayasuriya for successive fours and fetched another one over cover off Mendis before bringing up his sixth Test fifty. Salman, who had been using his feet to very good effect against Jayasuriya, went for a slog and managed to clear the ropes and eventually brought up a fifty off just 67 balls. The two batters were in complete control and stitched over 100 runs before rain arrived again to bring an early end to the day’s proceedings. In the morning session, Dhananjaya de Silva endured a few nervy moments before bringing up his 10th Test ton as Sri Lanka went past 250 without further damage. Ramesh Mendis’ resistance didn’t last long though as he attempted a slog and edged one to slip having batted 39 balls for just five runs up until that point. Jayasuriya tried to hang in as long as possible like Mendis but a short ball from Naseem Shah ended his stay. Naseem’s next over produced the big wicket as Dhananjaya finally departed having scored 122 before Vishwa Fernando’s mighty hits dragged Sri Lanka past the 300-run mark. Brief scores: Pakistan 221/5 (Saud Shakeel 69*, Agha Salman 61*; Prabath Jayasuriya 3/83) trail Sri Lanka 312 (Dhananjaya de Silva 122, Angelo Matthews 64; Abrar Ahmed 3/68) by 91 runs
