First Day of Lanka Test: Pakistan pacers please Pindiites

RAWALPINDI: A purple patch at the post-lunch session that saw pacers taking four wickets in a heap made it a Pakistan day as Sri Lanka slowly seen losing the grip on the opening day of first Test at the Pindi Stadium here Wednesday.

There could not have been an entertaining restart of Test engagements in Pakistan in a decade time then what was on offer on a light-restricted opening day. Sri Lanka stated off formidably with host coming roaring back to reduce tourists to 202-5 in 68.1 possible overs at the close of play.

The tourists’ decision to bat first was fast proving right when they reached 89 for no loss at lunch with skipper Dimuth Karunaratne (59) and Oshada Fernando (40) going well. While Sri Lanka skipper looked aggressive and was seen bearing the brunt of all the scoring, Fernando took 12 overs to get off the mark. It was after the lunch interval that real action started with Pakistan young pair of Shaheen Shah Afridi (1-37) and Naseem Shah (2-51) seen extracting a bit more bounce and movement.

Shaheen’s talent was soon on display when he defeated Karunaratne defense with a yorker length delivery and even umpires review supported left-arm seamer’s lbw case.

Within next 15 overs, Pakistan picked three more wickets to reduce Sri Lanka from 96 for no loss to 127-4. Naseem Shah, who possibly bowled the best spell after lunch, dislodged Fernando. One of the most consistent of Sri Lanka batsman Kusal Mendis (10) was seen edging behind of debutant Usman Shinwari’s only wicket of the day. Though wayward and unimpressive before lunch, Shinwari looked like getting wicket in a post-lunch session that saw him bowling from over the wicket.

Dinesh Chandimal’s (2) off stumps was disturb by Mohammad Abbas’ peach of delivery to leave tourists tattering at 127-4 before Dhananjaya de Silva (38 not out) and Angelo Mathews (31) were seen adding 58 runs for the fifth wicket. Mathews turned out to be the second of Naseem Shah’s victim. The youngster who is just a few months shy of turning 17 was displaying aggression and speed in patches.

“What we wanted was to contain Sri Lanka and we possibly were succeeded in that early on. It was after lunch that we tried to put extra pressure and ultimately succeeded in taking wickets regularly,” Naseem said during a post-match media talk.

He looked excited playing in front of home crowd. “We all are playing first Test at home and are excited to perform in front of home crowd. The moment we put the ball on right place we got support from the wicket.”

In a post-match media talk, Sri Lanka skipper hoped crossing a figure of 300. “It would be a good score and we are confident to get that mark as we have got batting behind.”

Karunaratne defended his decision to bat first, saying that he had got two spinners. “We are looking at the fourth innings. With two spinners at our disposal, I think the decision to bat first was a good pick.”

Sccore Board

TOSS: SRI LANKA

SRI LANKA 1ST INNINGS

Karunaratne lbw b Shaheen 59

O Fernando c Haris b Naseem 40

Mendis c Rizwan b Shinwari 10

Mathews c Asad b Naseem 31

Chandimal b Abbas 2

De Silva not out 38

Dickwella not out 11

Extras (B-5, LB-3, NB-3) 11

Total (5 wkts; 68.1 overs) 202

Still to bat: Perera, V Fernando, Rajitha, Kumara.

Fall of wickets: 1-96, 2-109, 3-120, 4-127, 5-189.

BOWLING: Abbas 20.1-7-50-1, Shaheen 16-6-37-1 (nb3), Shinwari 14-4-47-1, Naseem 16-4-51-2, Haris 1-0-9-0, Shan 1-1-0-0.

Pakistan: Shan, Abid, Azhar, Babar, Haris, Asad, Rizwan, Shinwari, Abbas, Naseem, Shaheen.

Match officials: Umpires: Richard Kettleborough (ENG) and Michael Gough (ENG); TV umpire: Richard Illingworth (ENG); Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM).