St Lucia, July 13: After being completely outplayed with both bat and ball on the first day, Pakistan hit back with an excellent bit of fielding, and incisive spells of reverse-swing and spin bowling, to restrict Sri Lanka to 226 for 8 at lunch on the second day.
The home team still held the whip with a lead of 136, but with session returns of 5 for 62, there was little doubt that the first two hours of the day clearly belonged to Pakistan.
It seemed Sri Lanka were on their way to a huge lead when Thilan Samaraweera played a sumptuous straight-drive in the first over of the day, which was rather surprisingly bowled by Younis Khan.
He was replaced by Umar Gul immediately, though, and things got a lot tougher for the batsmen. Gul reverted to his original action, instead of trying to hide the ball with both hands, and that helped him generate more pace and swing. Saeed Ajmal offered excellent support even though the pitch wasn’t as responsive as on the first evening, as Sri Lanka’s batsmen suddenly found themselves fighting for survival.
It all started with an inspired piece of fielding from Mohammad Aamer. Samaraweera attempted a quick single to mid-off, but Aamer found the stumps with a direct hit with Samaraweera short of the crease.
Gul, meanwhile, was beginning to atone for a lacklustre first Test, and he gave Pakistan a huge boost with a sharp delivery that burst through Kumar Sangakkara’s defences and shattered off stump. Sangakkara had progressed serenely to 87 and scarcely looked troubled, but that wicket suddenly turned the tide Pakistan’s way.
Tillakaratne Dilshan counterattacked in typical fashion, using his feet to Ajmal to ensure the innings wasn’t completely bogged down, but he fell to an unfortunate decision, given out caught behind off Ajmal when the bat had only hit the ground.
By now, though, Pakistan were sensing a wicket almost every over, as Gul and Ajmal asked plenty of questions of the batsmen. Gul briefly gave way to Aamer, but when he returned for a second spell, he struck immediately, getting rid of Nuwan Kulasekara – driving hard to slip – and Rangana Herath – caught-and-bowled as he tried to check a drive – off successive balls in his first over.
Gul’s spell for the morning read 3 for 15 from eight overs, while Ajmal bowled unchanged through the session for figures of 1 for 35 in 13.
It would have been even better for Pakistan had Angelo Mathews, who fought hard for an unbeaten 14, been snaffled at second slip by Khurram Manzoor off Aamer.
Mathews was on 4 at the time, and managed to battle through the rest of the session, but Pakistan had clearly taken the honours on the second morning.
——Agencies