Sri lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne hit a century amid another rich haul by Pakistani leg-spinner Yasir Shah as the decisive third and final Test began on a rousing note here on Friday. The hosts, sent in to bat after Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq won the toss for the third time in a row, stuttered to 272-8 in their first innings by stumps on the opening day.
left-handed Karunaratne anchored the innings with a dogged 130, his second Test century following the 152 against New Zealand in Christchurch last December. Yasir ended the day with four for 77, taking his tally in the series to 21 wickets, the most by a Pakistani bowler in a three-Test rubber in Sri lanka.
Yasir enabled Pakistan to keep the runs in check despite conditions favoring the batsmen on the evenly-paced pitch after the initial moisture on the wicket had dried up under the hot sun.
Pakistan secured an early break with the wicket of Kaushal Silva, who had scored 125 in Galle and 80 in Colombo.
This time Silva made nine when he was caught behind off left-arm seamer Rahat Ali, who was picked alongside Ehsan Ali and Imran Khan in a new-look pace attack for the decider. The left-handed pair of Karunaratne and Upul Tharanga put on 91 for the second wicket on either side of lunch to lift the score to 106 for one, before three wickets fell for 31 runs.
lahiru Thirimanne (11) and skipper Angelo Mathews (three) fell in successive overs from Yasir to mistimed drives as Sri lanka slipped to 137-4. Jehan Mubarak, recalled to the Test side after almost eight years, helped Karunaratne add 67 for the fifth wicket before he was stumped off Yasir for 25.
Karunaratne was stumped as he attempted a big heave and Prasad holed out to Yasir at deep square-leg to reduce Sri lanka to 248-7. Chandimal was leg-before to Rahat for 24, leaving Tharindu Kaushal (17) and Suranga lakmal (one) unbeaten at stumps.
Both sides made four changes each for the decider with Pakistan bringing in batsman Shan Masood along with the fresh pace attack. Pace spearhead Wahab Riaz was sidelined with a fractured hand, and Mohammad Hafeez was not available since he has to be tested for a suspect action.
Brief Scores
Sri lanka: 272/8 (Karunaratne 130, Tharanga 46; Yasir Shah 4/77) vs Pakistan.
Irfan back in ODI squad
With top pacer Wahab Riaz ruled out of the first three one-day internationals against Sri lanka due to a hairline fracture in his bowling hand, a fit-again Muhammad Irfan (in pic) returned to the Pakistan cricket squad announced on Friday for the series.
Chief selector Haroon Rasheed, while announcing a 16-member squad for the five-match series beginning from July 11, said that Wahab and batsmen Haris Sohail and Sohaib Maqsood were ruled out due to injuries.
“The rehab process of Wahab is being monitored and our medical panel is expected to rescan his injured left hand around the middle of this month to find out the recovery process,” he said.
“It is hoped he recovers well in time to be available for the last two one-dayers and if he is declared fit by the medical panel the selection committee might consider sending him to Sri lanka depending on the situation of the series and after consulting with the team management,” he said.