Sanga and thilan take Lanka to 317-4

Centuries from vice captain Kumar Sangakkara and Thilan Samaraweera carried Sri Lanka to a formidable 317 for 4 in their first innings on the opening day of the second cricket Test match against Pakistan which began a the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore yesterday.

The two seasoned campaigners simply carried on from where they left at Karachi with a fine display of concentration and determination to put on a partnership of 204 runs that could be crucial at the end. They came together at a vital stage of the innings when the visitors were in a spot of trouble having lost skipper Mahela Jayawardena shortly after lunch.

But thereafter the left hand right hand combination of Sangakkara and Samaraweera took firm control of the situation and steadied the innings with some immaculate batting during the last two sessions of the game. The pair of course reached their centuries in contrasting style but their common goal was to occupy the crease for long as possible.

In fact quite surprisingly Samaraweera overtook his more senior partner Sangakkara and was the first to complete his 9th Test hundred by pulling Shoaib Malik to the mid wicket fence for his 14th boundary. Samaraweera collected his runs from 161 deliveries and came in 198 minutes.

In the next over Sangakkara completed his 18th Test hundred following an overthrow but yet it was a fantastic effort considering the situation he was up against and the amount of pressure the team was facing.

The stylish left hander struck only eight boundaries but had done well in frustrating the home side for 308 minutes and facing 193 deliveries.

This was also the fourth occasion in consecutive innings that Sangakkara had gone past the fifty run mark following his twin fifties in the drawn opening test at the National Stadium in Karachi. He was eventually dismissed for a well compiled 104 runs after having added a superb 204 runs for the fourth wicket along with Thilan Samaraweera.

Pakistan’s decision to take the new ball immediately after the completion of 80 overs certainly brought them back into the game with the key wicket of Kumar Sangakkara who was dropped on 56 by Faisal Iqbal. However Samaraweera kept one end occupied until the close and will resume his innings on 133 and Tillekeratne Dilshan having just come in.

Earlier Umar Gul struck two vital blows in his opening spell to dismiss both openers Malintha Warnapura and Tharanga Paranavithana cheaply after they had opted to field having won the toss.

However the visitors recovered through a solid partnership between their two most experienced batsmen - Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara with the pair adding 61 runs for the third wicket after the initial setback Pakistan stuck to their task and bowled to the Sri Lankan openers’ strengths while testing them on the off side on many occasions. In fact Malinda Warnapura fell due to his desire for driving and was snapped up by Misbha ul Haq at first slip.

Tharanga Paranavitana who made his debut in Karachi, scored a couple of crisp boundaries and looked promising but he eventually fell cutting hard to point where Shoaib Malik held on to an absolute blinder. The pitch of course contributed little towards the wickets and the bowlers failed to produce unplayable deliveries either.

Even then Umar Gul certainly bowled his heart out while mixing his short off cutters with full deliveries and trying to trap the batsmen in front with the occasional bouncer. The right arm fast bowler gave Pakistan a great chance of exposing the Sri Lankan middle order by removing Mahela Jayawarden with a beauty.

Sri Lanka went into this match without their most experienced bowler Chaminda Vaas who was replaced by Thilina Thushara Mirando while Pakistan brought in debutant Mohammad Talha in place of Sohail Khan who conceded 164 runs in 27 overs without taking a wicket during the high scoring drawn test in Karachi. Lahore, Sunday.

SRI LANKA 1ST INNINGS

M. Warnapura c Haq b Gul 		  8
T. Paranavitana c Malik b Gul 		 21
K. Sangakkara c Akmal b Arafat 		104
M. Jayawardene c Akmal b Gul 		 30
T. Samaraweera not out 			133
T. Dilshan not out 			  3

Extras:(b4, nb12, w2) 	18
Total:(for four wkts) 	317

Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Warnapura), 2-35 (Paranavitana), 3-96 (M. Jayawardene), 4-300 (Sangakkara).
Bowling: Gul 19.4-2-67-3 (2nb, 1w), Talha 11-0-50-0 (7nb, 1w), Arafat 13-2-53-1 (3nb), Kaneria 24-1-89-0, Malik 17-2-45-0, Younus 2-0-9-0.