Galle Test back in balance after Babar’s masterclass
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam  scored 119 of the 218 that the team made in response to SL's 222 (AFP).
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam scored 119 of the 218 that the team made in response to SL's 222 (AFP).

IF Dinesh Chandimal made an impact on Day 1, then Babar Azam hogged the limelight on Day 2 of the Galle Test against Sri Lanka with a brilliant 119 to help Pakistan come within four runs of securing parity in the first innings. At close of play, the home side was 36 for 1, in front by 40 runs.\

When play resumed after the Lunch break, Pakistan needed their captain to lead from the front and he duly stepped up. Babar lost his batting partner, Yasir Shah early after the break as Pakistan slid further to 111 for 8.

Hasan Ali, who replaced Yasir at the crease, made his intentions clear by clubbing Maheesh Theekshana for two sixes. However, in an attempt to press top gear, Hasan soon holed out to Dinesh Chandimal off Ramesh Mendis.

With Pakistan nine down and the score reading only 148, Sri Lanka looked set to gain a healthy lead. Babar, though, had other ideas as he stitched a valuable stand of 70 for the last wicket.

Naseem Shah scored just five runs off 52 balls but he hung in there to give Babar valuable support. Babar also played with a degree of patience.

Eventually, in the 74th over, he decided to press the accelerator by collecting three boundaries off Kasun Rajitha – via mid-on, midwicket and square leg. He also pulled Theekshana for a six and then crunched a delightful inside-out loft off Sri Lanka’s spin spearhead, Prabath Jayasuriya.

After the Tea break, Babar duly completed a memorable hundred with a single off Theekshana. In the 90th over, Babar put his dancing shoes on by lofting Jayasuriya wide of long-on as the deficit came down to single figures.

(Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 222 (Dinesh Chandimal 68*, Maheesh Theekshana 38; Shaheen Afridi 4-58) and 40/1 (Mohammad Nawaz 1-12) lead Pakistan 218 (Babar Azam 119; Prabath Jayasuriya 5-82) by 40 runs.)

Ultimately, Babar was trapped LBW by Theekshana. Barring a couple of close LBW shouts, Babar put on a masterclass on a track that is assisting the spinners. Sri Lanka then lost the wicket of Dimuth Karunaratne at the fag end of the day, with Mohammad Nawaz dismissing him LBW.

Earlier, Jayasuriya had used the extra bite a relatively new ball would offer to rip through Pakistan’s batting. When the morning session commenced after a brief delay due to rain, Azhar was trapped in front in the very first over by Jayasuriya.

At that stage, Babar and Mohammad Rizwan rightly looked to take the aggressive route to share a timely stand of 40. Just when it felt as if the duo would negate the threat of Jayasuriya, Rizwan fell to the off-spin of Mendis, with the wicketkeeper grabbing the chance.

Salman Agha, the debutant, followed Rizwan back to the hut; dismissed LBW via a slider from Jayasuriya. Nawaz couldn’t last long either, with Oshada Fernando showing very good reflexes at forward short leg to pouch the catch off Jayasuriya’s bowling. The left-arm spinner then dislodged Shaheen Afridi LBW to claim his third five-for in just his second Test. (Cricbuzz)

SRI LANKA 1st innings 222
Pakistan 1st innings o/n 24-2
Abdullah Shafique lbw Prabath Jayasuriya 13
Imam ul-Haq lbw Kasun Rajitha 2
Azhar Ali lbw Prabath Jayasuriya 3
Babar Azam lbw Maheesh Theekshana 119
Mohammad Rizwan c Niroshan Dickwella b Ramesh Mendis 19
Agha Salman lbw Prabath Jayasuriya 5
Mohammad Nawaz c Oshada Fernando b Prabath Jayasuriya 5
Shaheen Afridi lbw Prabath Jayasuriya 0
Yasir Shah c Dhananjaya de Silva b Maheesh Theekshana 18
Hasan Ali c Dinesh Chandimal b Ramesh Mendis 17
Naseem Shah Not Out 5
Extras 5b 1lb 1nb 0pen 5w 12
Total (90.5 overs) 218 all out
Fall of Wickets : 1-12 ul-Haq, 2-21 Shafique, 3-24 Ali, 4-64 Rizwan, 5-73 Salman, 6-85 Nawaz, 7-85 Afridi, 8-112 Shah, 9-148 Ali, 10-218 Azam
Bowling: :Kasun Rajitha 11 – 2 – 42 – 1 (1w 1nb), Maheesh Theekshana 25.5 – 6 – 68 – 2,
Prabath Jayasuriya 39 – 10- 82 – 5, Ramesh Mendis 13 – 2 – 18 – 2.

SRI LANKA 2nd innings
Oshada Fernando Not Out 17
Dimuth Karunaratne lbw Mohammad Nawaz 16
Kasun Rajitha Not Out 3
Extras 0b 0lb 0nb 0pen 0w 0
Total (11.5 overs) 36-1
Fall of Wickets : 1-33 Karunaratne
To Bat : Mendis, Mathews, de Silva, Chandimal, Dickwella, Wanigamuni, Theekshana, Jayasuriya
Bowling : Shaheen Afridi 4 – 1 – 16 – 0, Mohammad Nawaz 5 – 0 – 12 – 1,
Agha Salman 2.5 – 1 – 8 – 0.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.