Kumar Sangakkara has replaced Jacques Kallis at the top of the ICC’s rankings for Test batsmen, following his strong showing against Pakistan in the UAE. On the bowling front, Dale Steyn extended his lead at the top, while a lethal spell with the ball against South Africa has catapulted Shane Watson into the top ten.
Kallis, who has led the batting rankings for much of the year, dropped three rating-points after his first-innings’ duck – his first in four years – against Australia in Cape Town. Sangakkara had scored 516 runs – the second-highest aggregate in a Test series for Sri Lanka – in the three matches against Pakistan, with two hundreds and two half-centuries at an average of 86.00. He was previously No.1 in January this year, before being displaced by Kallis and Sachin Tendulkar. Since then, he has scored 923 runs at a little over 54.00 to regain the top spot.
Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla, who scored fourth-innings’ tons to steer South Africa to an eight-wicket win, were the biggest movers in the last week. Smith gained eight places to move into No. 7, while Amla gained four places to slot in at No. 8. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who scored a century in a losing cause against India in Delhi, has also moved up a place to No. 6.
In the bowlers’ rankings, Steyn is still comfortably No. 1 and, significantly, has gone past 900 rating-points. He is only the 20th bowler cross the landmark. Steyn, who had begun the Cape Town Test on 899 ratings points, claimed six wickets in the match to finish on 902 points.
(ESPN)
November 12, 2011 at 6:30 pm
Sri Lanka’s batsmen betrayed a shocking lack of stomach in moderately helpful conditions for the bowlers, to crash to an eight-wicket humbling in the first ODI in Dubai. After losing the toss, Pakistan rolled the years back with a vintage bowling display – their fast bowlers softened the prey, before the allrounders and spinners came on to make incisions. Sri Lanka responded with indecisive prods, and a rash of strokes each uglier than the previous. They were bowled out for 131 with 57 balls to spare, and Pakistan strolled him in the 22nd over of their chase to put an early end to the weekend crowd’s evening.
Sri Lanka’s train-wreck of an innings featured only five fours, all of which were hit within the first 20 overs, and three sixes. The last of those – a heave against hope hopen from Lasith Malinga – broke a boundary drought that had lasted nearly 20 overs. Such was the stranglehold Pakistan wielded in the middle overs, and their spin spearhead Saeed Ajmal had almost no role to play in it.
Only one man stood between Pakistan and the paltry chase, but Lasith Malinga wasn’t at his best on his return to action. He over-stepped twice in his first over, and went on to send down two more no-balls – one of them for height. His lines were inconsistent, and his famed yorker did not make an appearance at all. Suranga Lakmal’s dismissal of Mohammad Hafeez gave Sri Lanka some hope, but Imran Farhat‘s free-scoring more than made up for the loss. Younis Khan, too, purred along smoothly with a series of typical whips and glances as Pakistan bolted to a 1-0 lead.
Pakistan 132 for 2 (Younis 56*, Farhat 50) beat Sri Lanka 131 (Afridi 3-27, Ajmal 2-21) by eight wickets
(ESPN)
November 11, 2011 at 10:20 pm
£ 272 million are to be spent on 2018 Commonwealth Games, if Hambanthota is chosen to host it, Cheif Government Whip Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told the parliament today(9). 75% of it is expected from the private sector, he added. The Minister stated this while responding to a question raised by Parliamentarian Ajith Perera.
(JNW)
November 9, 2011 at 2:25 pm
Pakistan extended their impressive run in Test cricket since the spot-fixing scandal deprived them of three first-choice players, securing a series win over Sri Lanka on a rare rain-hit day in Sharjah. Sri Lanka batted for four overs before calling an end to their series, setting up a target of 255 runs.
Although Sri Lankans were able to put pressure on Pakistan by grabbing 4 wickets 77 runs skipper Misbah-ul Haq remained unbeaten to ensure there were no implosions and confirm the draw. The result extends Sri Lanka’s winless streak to 14 Tests.
Kumar Sangakkara won the man of the match award for his valuable contributions with the bat while sharing the man of series award with Saeed Ajmal.
(JNW)
November 7, 2011 at 7:25 pm
Sri Lanka remained ahead after another attritional day in the third Test in Sharjah, but not to the extent required if they are to be confident of squaring the series. They are now left hoping for another of the famous Pakistan collapses that gave them the series the last time these two sides faced off.
In the morning, a mix of old-school batting and innovation from Misbah-ul-Haq and butter-fingered fielding helped Pakistan frustrate Sri Lanka and cut into the first-innings deficit. After lunch, Sri Lanka needed quick runs to set up a declaration but, as in the rest of this match, the big hits proved elusive and the run-rate remained low. Some late Saeed Ajmal strikes even gave Pakistan an outside chance of winning the Test.
Sri Lanka 413 and 164 for 5 (Paranavitana 66*, Sangakkara 51) lead Pakistan 340 (Younis Khan 122, Misbah 89, Azhar 53, Welegedara 5-87) by 237 runs
(ESPN)
November 6, 2011 at 7:25 pm
A mix of old-school batting and innovation from Misbah-ul-Haq and butter-fingered Sri Lankan fielding put Pakistan in pole position to save the third Test in Sharjah. Saeed Ajmal hung around for most of the morning session with Misbah to help cut Pakistan’s first-innings deficit to 73 despite Chanaka Welegedara’s first five-wicket haul in Tests.
Sri Lanka were buoyed by some late blows on Saturday, and perked up even more after striking twice early today. Welegedara removed Abdur Rehman in the first over of the day, getting the batsman to nick to slip, where Mahela Jayawardene fumbled but the ball landed in the Tharanga Paranavitana’s lap at first slip. Soon after, Umar Gul heaved a length ball to mid-off and Sri Lanka were eyeing an early end to the Pakistan innings.
Lunch Pakistan 340 (Younis 122, Misbah 89, Azhar 53, Welegedara 5-87) trail Sri Lanka 413 by 73 runs
(ESPN)
November 6, 2011 at 1:40 pm
Pakistan gave yet another demonstration of how far they have progressed from their collapse-prone avatar of recent years by posting a solid 282 for 6 on the third day of the final Test in Sharjah. The three middle-order batsmen instrumental in providing steel to the Pakistan line-up over the past year all made substantial contributions on a track which was truer than expected. Younis Khan made the biggest impact by going on to his 18th Test century, Azhar Ali collected his sixth 50-plus score in five Tests and Misbah-ul-Haq helped himself to another laboriously crafted half-century.
With the Pakistan openers dismissed on Friday, when the pitch was providing plenty of turn and bounce, Sri Lanka would have expected their bowlers to be a handful in the morning. Instead, they had the bad news that fast bowler Dhammika Prasad wouldn’t bowl in the match due to a thigh strain. The other medium-pacers Chanaka Welegedara and Kosala Kulasekara bowled at a gentle pace, and got some movement to induce a few plays-and-misses from the batsmen but weren’t able to prise out a wicket.
Every time they strayed, Pakistan’s batsmen capitalised. It was one of those loose deliveries that helped Pakistan end a series of nine successive maidens as Azhar slashed a short and wide ball from Kulasekara past cover to get Pakistan going in the morning. Most of his six boundaries came when the quicks either drifted on to the pads or provided him plenty of width.
Pakistan 282 for 6 (Younis 122, Azhar 53, Misbah 50*) trail Sri Lanka 413 by 131 runs
(ESPN)
November 5, 2011 at 7:11 pm
Sri Lanka had been clear winners of the first day, and though the scorecard suggested a more even second day, Sri Lanka still hold a big advantage over Pakistan given how much help the spinners are getting from the track. Pakistan were back in the game after grabbing four wickets in just over an hour’s play, before Rangana Herath’s swing-at-everything cameo pushed Sri Lanka past 400. The loss of both openers in the 20 overs before stumps further hurt Pakistan in front of a healthy holiday crowd in Sharjah.
Another day of run-accumulation had seemingly beckoned for Sri Lanka after the pitch proved benign on Thursday but none of the established middle-order batsmen provided the impetus – only 114 runs were scored in the first two sessions. Mahela Jayawardene wasn’t at his fluent best before becoming the latest victim of an umpiring blunder. Jayawardene was given out lbw to a delivery from Junaid Khan that jagged in from short of a length, striking him on the thigh pad. The ball was going to head over the stumps, but the usually accurate Simon Taufel disagreed, much to Pakistan’s relief.
Sangakkara remained his unflustered self, and though he too couldn’t force the pace there weren’t too many anxious moments either. His cap became sweat-stained as he soldiered on in an innings that spanned more than eight hours. He was beaten wafting outside off from successive deliveries from Umar Gul in the 97th over, after which he admonished himself for losing concentration. There were several effortless punches through cover but his only boundary of the day was a powerful lofted off drive off Saeed Ajmal.
Angelo Mathews also played a slow-and-steady innings, as he and Sangakkara hauled Sri Lanka to 300 for 3 an over before lunch. Mathews though was done in by an Abdur Rehman delivery that drifted in before spinning away and taking the edge.
After lunch, Pakistan got the big wicket of Sangakkara, as Ajmal got a shortish ball to turn sharply away, inducing a top-edge that gave Younis Khan his third catch of the innings. That left only newcomers Kaushal Silva and Kosala Kulasekara as the recognised batsmen remaining, with the Pakistan spinners posing plenty of questions with their variations. It was the big offbreak that accounted for Kulasekara as well, trapping him lbw, a dismissal which took Ajmal to the top of the Test-wickets list for this year.
With four men prowling around the bat, Silva needed 17 nervy deliveries to get off the mark, but he gritted his way through the entire session for an unbeaten 21. Like most batsmen, he too had trouble with Ajmal’s doosra, surviving on 5 when a nick was put down by Adnan Akmal. It was mostly a subdued innings from him, except for the crunched boundary through cover which got him off the mark. The final of the over of the session proved unlucky for Sri Lanka as well, as Dhammika Prasad’s resistance ended with him feathering Junaid Khan to the keeper.
Herath didn’t adopt the safety-first approach of the rest. Early in his innings, he slapped Junaid past a lazy Mohammad Hafeez at point, and then slammed the ball over square leg for six. He motored along at nearly a run-a-ball to 34 before Silva top-edged a swipe to short fine leg, and last man Chanaka Welegedara was cleaned up by some spectacular reverse-swing from Gul.
Pakistan’s batsmen had the challenge of batting out 20 overs after spending most of two days in the field. It became even more difficult for them as Prasad got the new ball to swerve in dramatically. It was the other quick, Welegedara, who made the breakthrough though, getting a thick edge from Hafeez that was superbly taken in the slip cordon by Jayawardene, flying to his right. There was more bad news for Pakistan as Taufeeq Umar was beaten by Herath before Silva took off the bails. That wicket, and the sharp spin Herath and Suraj Randiv extracted, prompted Pakistan to shut shop – only one run came off the final eight overs, suggesting a tough day ahead for them.
Pakistan 35 for 2 trail Sri Lanka 413 (Sangakkara 144, Dilshan 92, Ajmal 4-132) by 378 runs
(ESPN)
November 4, 2011 at 7:15 pm
On a painful day for Pakistan off the field with three of their players getting jail terms for their involvement in spot-fixing, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan made it a tough day for them on the field as well as Sri Lanka reached 245 for 2. On a track where the bowlers had little help, Sri Lanka turned in the sort of performance they needed to stand a chance of leveling this series.
The two batsmen who starred were in contrasting form coming into this match: Dilshan had only one half-century in his previous five Tests, while Sangakkara had three half-centuries and a 211 in seven previous innings. Dilshan’s career took off when he became an opener a few years ago, and he rediscovered his touch today on returning to the top of the order after a brief, fruitless dalliance in the middle order.
It didn’t seem like such a dominant day was on the cards for Sri Lanka after the first over of the day from Umar Gul. He got the ball to swerve around early on, beating Tharanga Paranavitana with his first delivery, before the batsman was reprieved three balls later at short leg. That didn’t hurt Pakistan, though, as Gul got the next delivery to bend sharply away from Paranavitana, who could only nick it to second slip. Two overs later, Sangakkara was nearly run out after a miscommunication with Dilshan.
After those initial jitters though, the Sri Lankan batsmen started to take charge. Sangakkara opened out with a typically graceful cover drive in the fourth over before Dilshan got going with a couple of cracking drives for four when Gul pitched it up in the seventh over.
With only two quick bowlers in the side, Pakistan had to resort to long spells of spin, and the slow bowlers had only a little assistance on the first day track. Saeed Ajmal was lofted over his head by Sangakkara in his only over before lunch, while Abdur Rehman was punched in front of point for a boundary by Dilshan.
Sangakkara reached the milestone of 9000 Test runs in the morning, and had little trouble during another easy-on-the-eye innings. He had a life when on 68, when he was tricked by Saeed Ajmal after the batsman charged down the track; there was a thick edge which was very difficult for wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal to collect.
Akmal did hang on to a similarly difficult chance in the final over before lunch but that too did not result in a wicket as the umpire Shavir Tarapore didn’t realise that the Gul bouncer had flown off Dilshan’s gloves.
Both batsmen were more aggressive in the second session. A combination of poor bowling and aggressive intent resulted in a bunch of boundaries soon after the break, the highlight of which was Sangakkara’s slog-swept six off Rehman. Dilshan showed how confident he was by pulling Junaid Khan for six midway through the session, taking on the man at deep square leg.
Sitting at a strong 170 for 1 at tea, with 36 more overs remaining in the day and the pitch proving harmless, Sri Lanka were expected to step the run rate up even more in the final session, but the Pakistan spinners choked off the runs allowing only seven runs in six overs. That slowed down Dilshan’s advance towards his first century since his broken-finger epic at Lord’s, and the wait for a triple-figure score was extended as an Ajmal doosra ended up as a catch to first slip.
That brought together Sri Lanka’s two greatest run accumulators but even Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene couldn’t force the pace, with an early spell yielding only 11 off nine overs. That stranglehold was ended stylishly as Sangakkara eased three boundaries in a Junaid Khan over to race to 98. The 27th Test century came up soon after as Sangakkara launched Rehman over deep midwicket for a massive six.
Jayawardene then survived a close call for lbw off Ajmal – the ball might have gone over the stumps – before Pakistan tested the batsmen with the second new ball, getting it to jag around. Sri Lanka survived those overs, though, which means their most experienced pair will be looking to heap more pain on Pakistan on Friday.
(ESPN)
November 3, 2011 at 7:15 pm
Salman Butt, the former Pakistan captain, has been sentenced to two years and six months in jail for his role in the spot-fixing case; Mohammad Asif has got a one-year jail sentence and Mohammad Amir six months. Mazhar Majeed, the players’ agent, has been sentenced to two years and eight months.
The sentences were handed down in Southwark Crown Court on Thursday morning, bringing the curtains down on one of sport’s most sordid and shameful scandals. The sentences are open to appeal and can be reduced to half the term for good behaviour.
The incarceration will begin immediately, with the players – who had all come to court with bags – due to be led into prison straight from the courtroom. It seems, in Amir’s case, that he will be sent to a young offenders’ detention centre instead of jail.
The sentences are open to appeal and Butt’s solicitor Paul Harris said they would be doing so in the next 24 hours.
The PCB called it a “sad day” for Pakistan cricket. “Instead of having pride in playing for their country, these players chose to disappoint their supporters, damage the image of their country and bring the noble game of cricket into disrepute. There is little sympathy in Pakistan for the sorry pass they have come to.”
In Lahore, the families of the convicted players were stunned by the sentences. Amir’s father said the Pakistan government should have helped his son. His brother Saleem said: “He is a kid, he can’t understand things. These six months are a lot for a boy who is immature.”
Butt’s father Zulfiqar was more aggressive, saying his son was innocent. “Our own friends conspired against us,” he said. “You can check our bank balance, we haven’t even been able to build our own house.”
The judge began proceedings with his summation of the case of each of the four found guilty, reading out their sentences one at a time, and his initial words suggested jail terms for all four guilty.
“Now, when people look back at a surprising event in a game or a surprising result or ever in the future there are surprising results, followers of the game who have paid to watch cricket or who have watched cricket on TV will wonder whether there has been a fix or what they have watched was natural.”
“It’s clear you were the orchestrator of these matters,” Justice Cooke told Butt. “You had to be to make sure these two bowlers were bowling at the time of the fix.”
To Asif he said: “Whilst no money was found in your possession, it’s clear that you conspired to bowl a no-ball. There’s no evidence on your part of prior fixing but it’s hard to see that this could have been an isolated incident.”
(ESPN)
November 3, 2011 at 4:57 pm
Tillakaratne Dilshan chose to bat against Pakistan in the first Test in Sharjah for nearly a decade. Sri Lanka were battling to save the series after being under pressure in Abu Dhabi before losing in Dubai.
Sri Lanka made a couple of changes as they hunt for their first Test win since the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan more than a year ago. Allrounder Kosala Kulasekara made his debut, while offspinner Suraj Randiv returned to the side. Fast bowler Suranga Lakmal and opener Lahiru Thirimanne were dropped which meant Tillakaratne Dilshan would open with Tharanga Paranavitana.
While Sri Lanka are still coming to terms with the loss of their greatest bowler, Pakistan made the transition more smoothly after losing the services of Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir. Pakistan stuck to the same XI that won the second Test.
This was the first Test Pakistan were playing since their former captain Salman Butt and fast bowler Asif were found guilty of conspiring to cheat and conspiring to accept corrupt payments by a jury at Southwark Crown Court in London. Amir had already pleaded guilty to the charges.
Pakistan: 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Taufeeq Umar, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Adnan Akmal (wk), 8 Umar Gul, 9 Abdur Rehman, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Junaid Khan.
Sri Lanka: 1 Tharanga Paranavitana, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Kaushal Silva (wk), 7 Kosala Kulasekara, 8 Suraj Randiv, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Dhammika Prasad, 11 Chanaka Welegedara.
(ESPN)
November 3, 2011 at 11:05 am
Shahid Afridi has been included in the Pakistan squad for the ODIs and Twenty20 against Sri Lanka. Afridi recently came out of his self-imposed retirement following Zaka Ashraf’s appointment as PCB chairman in place of Ijaz Butt. On the day he took office, Ashraf said he would meet with Afridi to discuss the situation and that he believed the allrounder still had plenty to offer the national side. Afridi had retired in protest over the way he was treated by the PCB under Butt, following Pakistan’s ODI series against the West Indies in April and May.
Squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema, Juanid Khan, Sohail Tanvir, Abdul Razzaq, Asad Shafiq
(ESPN)
November 2, 2011 at 7:40 pm
Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif have been found guilty of their part in a “spot-fixing” scam. Former captain Butt, 27, and bowler Asif, 28, had denied conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments.
But a jury at London’s Southwark Crown Court found Butt guilty of both charges and Asif guilty of conspiring to cheat.
They plotted to deliberately bowl no-balls during a Lord’s Test match against England last summer.
After deliberating for nearly 17 hours, the jury unanimously convicted the pair of conspiracy to cheat.
The jurors also found Butt guilty of conspiracy to accept corrupt payments by a majority of 10 to two.
The jury has not yet reached a verdict on whether Asif was also guilty of conspiracy to accept corrupt payments, and is continuing its deliberations.
(BBC)
November 1, 2011 at 6:00 pm
Upali Dharmadasa, the chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket’s interim committee, has said he is hopeful that his country’s national cricketers will be paid their salaries when they return home after the series against Pakistan currently being played in the UAE. SLC is expecting to receive the remaining payments of around US$ 4.3 million from the ICC for hosting the 2011 World Cup shortly.
“We are awaiting the money from the ICC soon after they have finalized their audit of the World Cup which we believe have been completed,” Dharmadasa told ESPNcricinfo.
Dharmadasa stated that SLC requires around 32 million Sri Lankan rupees (approx $290,540) a month to pay the salaries of its 230 employees and 100 contracted cricketers. He admitted to BBC Sinhala that the national cricketers had not been paid their salaries since the World Cup which ended in April because of SLC exceeded their budget building cricket stadiums for the tournament.
Dharmadasa was critical of the previous interim committee, headed by former Sri Lanka leg-spinner DS de Silva, for spending SLC money expansively to build a new stadium at Hambantota, renovating the Pallakele Stadium in Kandy and the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo for the World Cup.
“We are struggling financially today because of such unnecessary expenditure,” Dharmadasa said.
(ESPN)
October 31, 2011 at 7:47 pm
Mohsin Khan, Pakistan’s interim coach and chief selector, has said that he told his players to be mentally strong ahead of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Dubai. Pakistan won the match by nine wickets after squandering a strong position in the drawn first Test in Abu Dhabi.
“It’s a team game and every man has to play his part instead of relying on the senior players,” Mohsin told ESPNcricinfo. “I advised them to be honest and responsible as we are here to perform our duty and are expected to deliver our best.
“The important thing I had transmitted to the boys was that no matter how big a player you are, you aren’t bigger than Pakistan.”
Pakistan’s batsmen showed rare consistency in Dubai and the bowlers responded well to give them a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Mohsin said that he tried to get the players to trust their abilities and they delivered. “My team has all the required capability to beat any team. They only needed consistency in batting and bowling and this time they hit the mark in both departments and results are there.”
(ESPN)
October 31, 2011 at 9:36 am
Pakistan were so clinical in finishing Sri Lanka off on the fourth day that you wondered if this was the same group of players that is known for losing its way in the final furlong. They remained patient and persistent even when fortune didn’t favour them or even when a late partnership held them up. The pitch with variable bounce and turn did the rest for them. Pakistan began the day 76 ahead with nine wickets to take, their bowlers shared the early spoils, and then Saeed Ajmal ran through the tail – no mean feat considering their recent travails with lower orders – to register his third five-for in Tests. The fielders turned up too, diving in desperation for every ball remotely within reach and not missing a single catch, and the batsmen made short work of the 94-run target.
Pakistan attacks are reputed to be mercurial and extravagantly talented, but it is an underrated virtue that stood out today – patience. The biggest test of their patience came last afternoon when Kumar Sangakkara and Tharanga Paranavitana enjoyed good fortune with edges not going to hand, and the good deliveries turning out to be too good to take the edges. The bowlers, though, kept it tight and did not go looking for magic balls. The rewards duly came.
They were helped by Sri Lanka’s failure to attempt to disrupt their rhythm by hitting out. Some help also came their way from the umpires. Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan fell lbw to decisions you couldn’t be sure of, but the balance was restored a bit – so to speak – when Angelo Mathews survived a pretty adjacent call. Mathews went on to delay Pakistan with yet another impersonation of the boy on the burning deck but, as with Paranavitana’s fifty, there was no sting in the innings to hurt Pakistan.
Pakistan 403 (Azhar 100, Shafiq 59, Younis 55, Dilshan 3-57) and 94 for 1 (Hafeez 59*) beat Sri Lanka 239 (Sangakkara 78, Ajmal 3-45, Gul 3-78) and 257 (Paranavitana 72, Mathews 52*, Ajmal 5-68) by nine wickets
October 29, 2011 at 7:10 pm
On a pitch that seemed to have roughed up and become vicious, Sri Lanka came out of a testing session-and-a-half with the loss of just one wicket after they had fallen behind by 164 in the first innings. The 45 overs of Sri Lanka’s innings was edgy stuff with almost every ball from the spinners misbehaving. It was one of those spells of play where it was just a matter of time before the one with your name showed up. Tharanga Paranavitana and Kumar Sangakkara, left-hand batsmen both, kept trying their best to negate the rough outside their off stumps, and were yet to meet the one with their name on it.
In comparison the first half of the day, important in its own right, seemed to be on sedatives. The ball hardly did anything for Sri Lanka except for some manageable reverse swing for Dhammika Prasad, and despite the early loss of Misbah-ul-Haq, Asad Shafiq and Adnan Akmal built towards a crucial lead. Shafiq showed he had learned his lesson from the first-Test go-slow, and batted purposefully along with Akmal.
Before Shafiq and Akmal, the day’s play was definitely a morning walk. Misbah’s early dismissal and the presence of a nightwatchman left Pakistan crawling as 11 runs came in the first half hour, including four byes, and 18 in the next half. Around this time Angelo Mathews at gully accepted a second offering from Ajmal, after which Shafiq and Akmal got busy.
Even as Chanaka Welegedara strung together a tight spell, Shafiq welcomed Suranga Lakmal with a pull and Rangana Herath with a six over long-on. At the opposite end, Akmal drove Welegedara for back-to-back boundaries either side of cover. The shots were played slightly away from the body and on the up. If you had just tuned in, you could tell his last name just from those two drives. Shafiq joined in the fun with a fore-handed four through covers to make it 14 off that over. Welegedara had bowled his previous eight for 15.
After that over it was down to accumulating almost in ODI-style, the absence of which they were criticised for in the first Test. The lunch break broke the flow a bit a bit, and when Shafiq tried to use Prasad’s pace, he ended up steering straight to gully. After that the innings lost direction. The wickets kept falling, and Akmal didn’t try a single big shot. When Tillakaratne Dilshan took the last wicket, he ended a period of nine runs in 11 overs.
Dilshan chose to play no further part in the day’s play barring a top-order collapse. The beleaguered regulation openers came out to face the music. The first ball from Umar Gul shaped to swing into the left-hand Paranavitana, and then seamed away, just missing the edge. That set the template for the rest of Paranivatana’s effort. He kept playing and missing, but he didn’t play a release shot. If he got beaten in the flight, he somehow managed to avoid the edge; the bat-pads didn’t make it to the fielders; and even when he ran poorly he somehow survived.
When Misbah introduced Mohammad Hafeez as early as the sixth over, it seemed inexplicable. The fast bowlers had given him good starts almost every time, they were causing trouble now too, and Junaid Khan wasn’t injured either. Soon, though, the ball started turning and kicking. Abdur Rehman joined him from the other end. They kept firing the ball in the rough, the orthodox flighted delivery became a change-up. Hafeez soon bowled one with Lahiru Thirimanne’s name on it: a flat offbreak that pitched middle and took off, past a forward-defensive from the batsman.
For 31.5 following overs, Sangakkara and Paranavitana had to face a similar test of variable turn and bounce. As the turn kept missing the edge, or the odd big explosion beat the keeper too with the batsman stranded, you could see Pakistan begin to feel edgy too. They have to bat last on this pitch, although it can be argued the Sri Lanka bowlers don’t boast similar pedigree.
Sri Lanka 239 and 88 for 1 (Paranavitana 42*, Hafeez 1-24) trail Pakistan 403 (Azhar 100, Shafiq 59, Younis 55, Dilshan 3-57) by 76 runs
(ESPN)
October 28, 2011 at 7:15 pm
