Pakistan win Test series
Third Test drawn:
Pakistan clinched the three-Test series against Sri Lanka 1-0 after
the third and final Test ended in a draw at Sharjah stadium here on
Monday. Persistent rain wiped out play in the pre-lunch session a two
hours and 35 minutes delay which left Sri Lanka with little time to
enforce a win despite declaring their second innings at 181-6, setting
Pakistan a target of 255 in a possible 61 overs.
By tea, Sri Lanka had taken three early wickets and were pressing for
a win. Pakistan lost a further wicket when opener Taufiq Umar fell for
39, before they finished at 87-4 when umpires called off the match four
overs early due to bad light.
Skipper Misbah-ul Haq (nine) and Asad Shafiq (seven) survived some
anxious moments to salvage a draw. Pakistan won the second Test in Dubai
by nine wickets after the first in Abu Dhabi ended in a draw. The result
kept Pakistan on the sixth ranking, as they needed a 2-0 victory to jump
one place up and replace Sri Lanka on fifth.
Pakistan started positively before losing Mohammad Hafeez (13), Azhar
Ali (seven) and Younis Khan (11) in the space of 37 runs.
Hafeez had struck a boundary in the first over by Chanaka Welegedara
but fell in an unwise manner, run out after taking a sharp single as he
failed to beat a direct throw from mid-wicket by substitute Lahiru
Thirimanne. Ali, who scored a maiden hundred in the second Test, was
trapped leg-before wicket by left-arm spinner Rangana Herath before
Younis played an uppish drive off Welegedara and was caught at mid-on.
Umar miscued a drive off spinner Suraj Randiv and was caught by Kumar
Sangakkara at point, leaving Pakistan at 77-4.
Sri Lanka, who have now gone 13 Tests without a win since beating
India at Galle in 2009, had hoped to score some quick runs in order to
set Pakistan a target and then get their rivals out for a victory.
But overnight rain and constant drizzle forced the umpires to keep
the team away from the ground, part of which remained covered during the
morning session. When play finally resumed 35 minutes after lunch, Sri
Lanka lost Kosala Kulasekara (seven) before declaring the innings at
181-6, after 2.2 overs of batting.
Opener Tharanga Paranavitana remained not out 76, made off 168 balls
with five boundaries and a six. Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal finished with
3-50 and paceman Umar Gul took 2-44. The series highlighted Sri Lanka’s
batting frailties, especially in the first innings where they were
bowled out for 197 and 239 in the first two Tests.
If not for Kumar Sangakkara’s 516 runs in six innings at 86.00, Sri
Lanka would have been hard pressed to save the two matches.
Both teams will now start a five-match one-day series with the first
game in Dubai on November 11. They will also play a Twenty20 in Abu
Dhabi on November 25.
AFP
Sri Lanka
1st innings 413
Pakistan
1st innings 340
SRI LANKA 2ND INNINGS (overnight 164-5)
T. Paranavitana not out 76
T. Dilshan c Hafeez b Gul 4
K. Sangakkara c Shafiq b Hafeez 51
M. Jayawardene lbw b Gul 20
A. Mathews lbw b Ajmal 13
K. Silva lbw b Ajmal 0
K. Kulasekara b Ajmal 7
R. Herath not out 1
Extras: (lb6, nb2, w1) 9
TOTAL: (for six wkts dec) 181
Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Dilshan), 2-80 (Sangakkara), 3-127 (Jayawardene),
4-155 (Mathews), 5-155 (Silva), 6-178 (Kulasekara).
Bowling: Gul 15-1-44-2, Khan 5-3-9-0,
Rehman 12-1-38-0, Hafeez 10-1-34-1, Ajmal 16-2-50-3.
PAKISTAN 2ND INNINGS
Mohammad Hafeez run out 13
Taufiq Umar c Sangakkara b Randiv 39
Azhar Ali lbw b Herath 7
Younis Khan c sub (Thirimanne) b Welegedara 11
Misbah-ul Haq not out 9
Asad Shafiq not out 7
Extras: (lb1) 1
TOTAL: (for four wkts) 87
Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Hafeez), 2-30 (Ali), 3-57 (Younis), 4-77 (Umar).
Bowling: Welegedara 9-3-19-1, Kulasekara 3-0-15-0,
Herath 22-14-19-1, Randiv 19-9-21-0, Dilshan 4-0-12-0. |