Silva lead lanka charge

Kaushal Silva and captain Angelo Mathews scored half-centuries to push Sri lanka to 304-9 at stumps on the second day of the second test against Pakistan on Friday, with a first-innings lead of 166 runs.Pakistan legspinner Yasir Shah collected his second five-wicket haul of the series to slow Sri lanka’s progress at P. Sara Oval, but valuable contribution from tail-enders put the hosts in control.

Silva scored 80 off 218 balls, spending more than five-and-a-half hours at the crease and hitting 10 boundaries before getting run out while trying to take a single with Mathews.The dismissal ended a 72-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Mathews got a reprieve on 32 when Shah dropped him off left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar and went on to score 77 off 153 deliveries, including eight boundaries, before being trapped lbw by Shah.Shah also bowled Dinesh Chandimal (1), who charged down the crease and misjudged the length, and Kithruwan Vithanage (3), who attempted a reverse-sweep against a sharply turning delivery, to give his team a chance to restrict Sri lanka to a smaller lead.

However, No. 8 Dhammika Prasad (35) combined with Mathews for 73 runs for the seventh wicket, and Tharindu Kaushal hit 18 runs. Rangana Herath (10) and Dushmantha Chameera (0) are the not-out batsmen for the lankans.Shah has bowling figures of 5-95. Pakistan received a huge blow overnight when paceman Wahab Riaz was ruled out of the series due to a fractured left wrist, sustained when he was struck by a delivery from Dushmantha Chameera on Thursday.

Pakistan was dismissed for 138 in its first innings on Thursday. Pakistan leads the three-match series 1-0 after winning the first test in Galle by 10 wickets.

Brief ScoresPakistan: 138 (Mohammad Hafeez 42, Azhar Ali 26; Kaushal 5/42, Prasad 3/43) trail Sri lanka: 304/9 (Kaushal Silva 80, Angelo Mathews 77, Dhammika Prasad 35; Yasir Shah 5/95) by 166 runs.