Sri Lanka vs. Pakistan, 3rd Test, Day 2: Highlights, Scorecard and Report

Sri Lanka moved into pole position of the third Test in the series with Pakistan on Saturday, as the visitors trailed by 69 runs at the close of play with just one wicket in reserve despite the hosts posting a measly first-innings total—per Sri Lanka Cricket:

The hosts started the day on 272-8, with Tharindu Kaushal and Suranga Lakmal at the crease just looking to delay the inevitable. Their mission didn’t last long.

Kaushal managed to add just one run to his Day 1 haul of 17 before Rahat Ali trapped him lbw, and his replacement Nuwat Pradeep didn’t fare much better—out for a duck at the hands of Yasir Shah.

Lakmal scored five runs before Pradeep was sent packing to close the innings, leaving the Sri Lankans on 278 all out, as the scorecard shows below:

Batsmen	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	Fours	Sixes
Karunaratne	st Sarfraz Ahmed b Azhar Ali	130	230	14	0
K Silva	c Sarfraz Ahmed b Rahat Ali	9	11	2	0
Tharanga	c Younus Khan b Yasir Shah	46	92	6	0
Thirimanne	c Sub b Yasir Shah	11	30	2	0
Mathews	c Sub b Yasir Shah	3	12	0	0
Mubarak	st Sarfraz Ahmed b Yasir Shah	25	63	4	0
Chandimal	lbw b Rahat Ali	24	41	2	0
Prasad	c Yasir Shah b Azhar Ali	0	1	0	0
Kaushal	lbw b Rahat Ali	18	37	3	0
Lakmal	not out	6	20	1	0
Pradeep	lbw b Yasir Shah	0	2	0	0
Extras		6
Total		278
Bowlers	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Rahat Ali	21.0	4	74	3
Ehsan Adil	14.0	3	37	0
Imran Khan	16.0	3	51	0
Yasir Shah	31.5	4	78	5
Azhar Ali	7.0	0	35	2

Pakistan, then, would have been full of confidence ahead of their turn to bat after laying an excellent foundation with the ball. However, they only needed to look back at the second Test to see how quickly things can turn sour.

Despite managing to restrict Sri Lanka to 315 last time out, Pakistan could only post 138, as the hosts levelled the series with minimal fuss.

Misbah-ul-Haq and his team were determined not to let that happen again, but their quest to take control of the series got off to a miserable start.

Eranga Jayawardena/Associated Press

Things were looking okay for Pakistan with 32 on the card, but Dhammika Prasad controversially sent Shan Masood packing. He was given out lbw despite the fact that the ball appeared to be missing the stumps. That then started the Sri Lankan fightback.

Pradeep was at the heart of the hosts’ resurgence, as he made up for his batting woes by dismissing Ahmed Shehzad—although the Pakistani should have coped a lot better with the delivery.

Pakistan needed some immediate stability, or their second Test nightmares were going to become reality once again. However, just moments later, Younis Khan was run out after displaying some dreadful judgement.

It was the first time that Khan had been run out in a Test match in nine years, and a decision that Cricbuzz labelled “suicidal”:

The batting order just couldn’t cope with Sri Lanka’s seamers, and at 45-3, Pakistan fans would have been fearing the worst. However, Azhar Ali’s introduction just about managed to steady the ship.

Ali and Asad Shafiq built up a good partnership at the crease.

Ali was taking full advantage of his time on strike, too, as he continuously found the boundary to give Pakistan reason for optimism.

Yet it wasn’t long before his partner in crime was walking, as Prasad once again trapped him in front to leave the score on 91-4.

Eranga Jayawardena/Associated Press

Sarfraz Ahmed entered the fray and immediately gelled with Ali, but the latter’s dismissal for 52 seemed to come at a very bad time.

Misbah-Ul-Haq and Ehsan Adil were both out shortly after, for six and zero, respectively, as another collapse looked on the cards.

At 152-7, the Sri Lankans were celebrating and Pakistan looked dejected, but that man Ahmed kept the visitors’ heads afloat.

He was the only batsman coping with Sri Lanka’s talented pool of seamers, and it wasn’t long before his 50 was up.

Sarfraz has become Pakistan’s Mr Consistent with the bat, and that much is reflected in the stats. Journalist Saj Sadiq revealed how quickly he scores his runs:

However, he had to watch on as his partners came and went, with Shah and Rahat Ali failing to post notable scores.

Shah’s total of 18 wasn’t good enough to give Pakistan a meaningful chance of chasing down Sri Lanka’s total, but cricket expert Awais Satti believes that’s the fault of the management:

Sarfraz and Imran Khan were at the crease at the close of play, as Pakistan closed on 209 for nine, as the scorecard shows below:

Batsmen	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	Fours	Sixes
Masood	lbw b Prasad	13	33	2	0
Shehzad	c Chandimal b Pradeep	21	29	5	0
Azhar Ali	c Karunaratne b Pradeep	52	96	8	0
Younus Khan	run out (K Silva)	3	24	0	0
Shafiq	lbw b Prasad	15	38	2	0
Sarfraz Ahmed	not out	72	94	6	0
Misbah-ul-Haq	lbw b Pradeep	6	17	1	0
Ehsan Adil	lbw b Kaushal	0	1	0	0
Yasir Shah	c Chandimal b Prasad	18	37	1	0
Rahat Ali	lbw b Kaushal	2	11	0	0
Imran Khan	not out	0	6	0	0
Extras		7
Total		209
Bowlers	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Prasad	19.0	1	78	3
Lakmal	14.0	1	64	0
Pradeep	14.0	5	26	3
Mathews	4.0	1	3	0
Kaushal	13.0	1	34	2

The wicketkeeper chalked up a superb unbeaten 72, but he and Khan will need to produce something spectacular on Sunday.

Either way, when Pakistan return to the crease, they need a drastic step up.

So many of Saturday’s wickets could easily have been avoided—particularly in a Test situation—so unless Misbah-ul-Haq and Co. get their tactics right, this series could slip away.