Pacers shine as Shaheens take control against Sri Lanka A

RAWALPINDI: Pacers Kashif Ali (5-31) and Khurram Shahzad (4-32) bowled in tandem to bundle out Sri Lanka ‘A’ for 115 as Pakistan Shaheens took early control of the four-day match here at the Pindi Stadium Monday.

At the close of play, Shaheens trailed by 49 runs as they had posted 66-2 on the board in 24 overs. Only 57.1 overs of play was possible on day one as the stumps were drawn early due to bad light.

Earlier, after the hosts put visiting team to bat first, Kashif ran through the Sri Lanka ‘A’ batting line-up with figures of 5-31 in 12 overs while he was assisted by Test fast bowler Khurram who dismissed four batters for 32 runs in 10.1 overs.

After Sri Lanka ‘A’ were reduced to 14-4, skipper Pasindu Sooriyabandara (28) and top-scorer Sonal Dinusha (30) stitched a 51-run fifth-wicket stand before Hussain Talat struck to remove the former. At lunch break, Sri Lanka ‘A’ were 90-6 before losing their next four wickets for 25 runs.

In turn, Shaheens lost their skipper, Mohammad Huraira, in the seventh over to Test fast bowler Vishwa Fernando. Opening batter Abdul Faseeh (26) fell to Wanuja Sahan in the 20th over after putting on a 34-run second-wicket stand with fellow southpaw Ali Zaryab. Ali (18 not out) and Mohammad Suleman (11 not out) will be on the crease for Shaheens when they resume their first innings on day two which is set to begin at 9.15am today.