GALLE: On the second day of the first Test on Sunday, Sri Lankan spinner Prabath Jayasuriya captured his third consecutive haul of five or more wickets, putting Pakistan in serious trouble.
In response to Sri Lanka’s 222, the tourists were in trouble at 104 for seven at lunch, still trailing by 118 runs in Galle.
At the interval, Yasir Shah, who was on 12, and captain Babar Azam, who advanced from his overnight one to 34 after a few narrow escapes, were both batting on a pitch that favoured the spinners.
With his left-arm spin, Jayasuriya bamboozled batsmen once more after taking 12 wickets on his Test debut in a series-tying victory over Australia last week at the same location—six in each innings.Rain caused play to resume 30 minutes later than scheduled, and Azhar Ali only managed to last three balls before being caught lbw by Jayasuriya.
Mohammad Rizwan, a wicketkeeper-batsman, and Azam combined for 40 runs for the fourth wicket before Ramesh Mendis, an off-spinner, struck with the score at 64.
Rizwan tried to flick Mendis away down the leg side, but an edge ended up in the clutches of the wicketkeeper, and he was out for 19.After scoring five runs, rookie Salman Ali Agha’s stay only lasted 15 balls when he was caught lbw by another sliding delivery from Jayasuriya.
Then, with Pakistan on 85-7, Jayasuriya, 30, struck on consecutive balls to get rid of Mohammad Nawaz and Shaheen Shah Afridi. Yasir then survived the hat-trick ball.
rapid left arm Shaheen led Pakistan’s bowlers with four wickets on day one, while Dinesh Chandimal’s 76 and Mahesh Theekshana’s cameo of 38 enabled Sri Lanka turn around from 133-8 to 222..
