Silva, Jayawardene steady Sri Lanka in second Test

Sri Lanka reaches 132-3 at lunch on the second day of the second Test against Pakistan in Dubai.


Afp January 09, 2014
Sri Lankan batsman Kaushal Silva plays a shot during the second day of the second cricket Test match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on January 9, 2014. PHOTO: AFP

DUBAI: Sri Lanka reached 132-3 at lunch on the second day of the second Test against Pakistan in Dubai on Thursday.

At the break opener Kaushal Silva was on a defiant 40 not out and with him Mahela Jayawardene unbeaten on 19 having added 44 for the unbroken fourth wicket stand.

They lost Kumar Sangakkara (26) and Dinesh Chandimal (12) in the space of 13 runs. Sri Lanka now trail by 33 runs over Pakistan's first innings total of 165.

Silva, who hit a fighting 81 in the first Test in Abu Dhabi, has so far hit four boundaries during his solid 107-ball stay, while Jayawardene looked determined to strike form after twin failures in the first Test.

The first of the three Tests was drawn last week.

Resuming at 57-1, Sri Lanka had hoped experienced batsman Sangakkara would score more but the left-hander fell in the sixth over of the day.

Left-arm paceman Rahat Ali, who went wicketless in the first Test, trapped Sangakkara leg before with a ball that kept straight and missed the forward push.

Junaid, who had figures of 2-36, then had Chandimal caught at deep fine-leg off an uppish hook shot.

Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal, also wicketless in the second innings of the first Test, once again toiled hard, having so far failed to make an impact.

Pakistan wasted one referral when they appealed for a caught behind against Silva but the replays showed Ali's delivery did not touch the bat and Indian umpire Sundaram Ravi's decision was upheld.

COMMENTS (1)

Khalid Javed | 10 years ago | Reply

Pakistan Team is confronted with a colossal task ahead during the remaining three days. Looking at the batting form and the fragility of middle order batting line up, Pakistani Team has to do a miracle to save this test. If Sri Lanka manages to accumulate another 150 odd runs, Pakistan will be faced with a menacing threat of humiliating innings defeat. Sri Lanka will be ready to launch their aggressive bowling assault on the 3rd day after tea session with two days and a session to spare.

Excessively defensive strategies, a mind-set of majority of team members characterized by desperation for self-survival in the team has taken the winning fire out of Pakistan batting line up. It has abysmally de-capacitated the team to go for a kill”. Only a miracle can save Pakistan from a defeat which unfortunately always eludes Pakistan.

Misbah to get ready for the final speech filled with lessons learnt from this test- lessons which we never learn.

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