Eleven wickets fell on day two in Galle, with Pakistan trailing by 187 runs
Pakistan 191 for 7 (Salman 62, Ramesh Mendis 3-42) trail by 187 runs Sri Lanka 378 (Chandimal 80, Dickwella 51, O Fernando 50, Naseem 3-58, Yasir 3-83, Nawaz 2-80)
Sri Lanka made huge strides towards taking control of the Test on the second day, despite having lost their last four wickets for 63 runs in the morning.
Asitha Fernando made the crucial breakthrough, removing in form batter Abullah Shafique with the second ball of the innings, before the spinners went to work. Prabath Jayasuriya had Babar Azam playing on. Dhananjaya de Silva slipped a full delivery through Imam-ul-Haq’s defences. Mohammad Rizwan, Fawad Alam, and Mohammad Nawaz were out to Ramesh Mendis’ offspin.
The end result is that although Pakistan kept Sri Lanka to a manageable 378 in the first innings, they’ve stumbled so badly, they are now fighting to stay alive in the Test. Agha Salman, playing his second Test, was the batter who fought hardest, hitting 62 off 126 balls, as wickets fell around him. His dismissal off what turned out to be the last ball of the day entrenched Sri Lanka’s dominant position, however.
The Pakistan top order though, did not take advantage of the situation. Second ball of the innings, their form batter Shafique played a leaden-footed push at Asitha, whose length delivery took the inside edge and cannoned into middle and leg stump.
Babar Azam was out next, also chopping on, pushing at a full Prabath Jayasuriya delivery that did not turn as much as expected, to be out for 16. Imam was also bowled, but this time the bat did not interfere. De Silva beat him in the air, and slipped the ball into middle.
From there, it wasn’t quite a procession, but the wickets fell regularly. Mohammad Rizwan was lbw playing back to a quicker one from Ramesh. It looked plumb from the outset, but Rizwan burned one of his team’s reviews. Fawad Alam battled to 24 before he too played back to a sliding Ramesh delivery, that hit him in front. Fawad didn’t review.
Of Sri Lanka’s bowlers, Ramesh returned the best figures, taking 3 for 42. Pakistan had two bowlers on three wickets in their innings too – Yasir taking 3 for 80, and Naseem 3 for 58.
(Curtsey ESPN)
