Thilan 214, tames Pakistani bowlers
Middle order batsman Thilan Samaraweera scored back to back double
hundreds as Sri Lanka piled up a massive 606 runs in their first innings
on day two of the second and final cricket Test match against Pakistan
continued at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore yesterday.
The 32 year old prolific run getter hammered a magnificent 214
following his contribution of 231 in the drawn opening test match at the
National Stadium in Karachi. This was a class act considering the fact
that the wicket had plenty of bounce and movement to the Pakistani
bowlers.
However Pakistan made a solid reply with their openers Salman Butt
and Khurram Manzoor putting on a century stand in 19 overs. In fact
Manzoor raced to his maiden test half century from 58 deliveries with
the help of ten boundaries. Sri Lanka had the consolation of removing
Salman Butt in the last over of the day following a smart piece of
fielding from skipper Mahela Jayawardena.
Earlier Samaraweera lived upto expectations as one of the most
reliable batsman in the team by racing to his double century shortly
after lunch from 338 deliveries inclusive of 32 boundaries. He reached
198 by stroking two delightful boundaries from Yasir Arafat in the same
over and then pushed a single to celebrate a memorable innings.
Samaraweera of course received excellent support from teammate
Tillekeratne Dilshan with the pair putting on a superb 207 runs for the
fifth wicket from 186 minutes. Dilshan who missed an opportunity in
Karachi really made amends with a powerful display of batting where he
raced to his eighth test hundred from just 109 deliveries inclusive of
fourteen boundaries.
Dilshan also reached another landmark in his career as he completed
three thousand runs in test cricket during his nock of 145. He of course
dropped anchor after the dismissal of Samaraweera and decided to play a
more responsible innings that carried Sri Lanka towards a commanding
position.
Dilshan and Samaraweera completely dictated terms during the opening
session while forcing Younis Khan into making bowling changes and
alterations to his field. In fact Pakistan conceded 45 runs from the
first seven overs of the day and they were always up against it.
Younis of course made a double bowling change early on while bringing
the debutant Mohammad Talha and Danish Kaneria into the attack but yet
the runs continued to flow. Younis brought Umar Gul back after Pakistan
conceded 30 runs off the second set of seven overs but he too was hit
for a series of boundaries by the Sri Lankan pair.
Samaraweera continued to accumulate the runs quite steadily where he
started the day with a flick through midwicket off Arafat before pulling
and cutting Talha without ever looking hasty. He also handled the
spinners with equal brilliance and punished Kaneria quite regularly with
some powerful drives on either sides of the wicket.
This was the second time in the series that Sri Lanka had gone past
the 600 run mark and the fifth occasion ever that has happened in a test
match at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
LAHORE, Monday
SRI LANKA
1ST INNINGS
(overnight 317-4)
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 run out 214
T. Dilshan run out 145
P. Jayawardene c Akmal b Gul 15
T. Thushara b Gul 10
M. Muralitharan b Talha 22
A. Mendis b Gul 0
D. Fernando not out 14
Extras: (b4, lb1, nb13, w5) 23
TOTAL: 606
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-16 (Warnapura), 2-35 (Paranavitana), 3-96 (M. Jayawardene), 4-300 (Sangakkara),
5-507 (Samaraweera), 6-542 (P. Jayawardene), 7-566 (Thushara), 8-572 (Dilshan), 9-572 (Mendis)
BOWLING: Gul 37-2-135-6 (2nb, 1w), Talha 17-0-88-1 (7nb, 1w), Arafat 20-2-106-1 (4nb),
Kaneria 47-5-183-0, Malik 28-3-80-0 (3w), Younus 2-0-9-0
PAKISTAN 1ST INNINGS
Khurram Manzoor not out 59
Salman Butt run out 48
Extras: (nb3) 3
TOTAL: (for one wkt) 110
BOWLING: Thushara 8-0-46-0, Fernando 2-0-20-0 (2nb), Mendis 8-2-21-0 (1nb), Muralitharan 4.4-0-23-0, Dilshan 1-1-0-0 |
