Sri Lanka removed Pakistan's openers early to gain the upper hand on the second day of the third and final cricket Test at Sharjah stadium here on Friday.
Sri Lanka, seeking a series-levelling win after losing the second Test by nine wickets in Dubai, removed Mohammad Hafeez (six) and Taufiq Umar (19) as Pakistan closed on 35 for two in reply to Lanka's first innings total of 413. The first Test in Abu Dhabi ended in a draw.
Pakistan looked shaky from the start as Hafeez was dismissed in the fifth over of the innings, edging an outgoing delivery from left-arm paceman Chanaka Welegedara to slip for Mahela Jayawardene to take a simple catch.
Left-arm spinner Rangana then struck in his third over, inducing Umar to come out of the crease and had him stumped by wicketkeeper Kaushal Silva, much to the disappointment of a holiday crowd of near 8,000 made up of Pakistan expats.
At close, Azhar was unbeaten on 10 and Younis Khan yet to get off the mark, as Pakistan still trails by 378 runs.
Earlier, Saeed Ajmal led Pakistan's fight-back, claiming four wickets, after Sri Lanka, well placed at 300 for the loss of three, lost five wickets in the space of 59 runs.
Sangakkara, who also crossed 9,000 Test runs during the innings, showed pleasure at helping the team. “My job is to keep scoring runs and every Test is a new challenge.”
Scoreboard
Sri Lanka — 1st innings: T. Paranavitana c Younis b Gul 4, T. Dilshan c Younis b Ajmal 92, K. Sangakkara c Younis b Ajmal 144, M. Jayawardene lbw b Junaid 39, A. Mathews c Akmal b Rehman 17, K. Silva c Ali b Ajmal 39, K. Kulasekara lbw b Ajmal 15, S. Randiv lbw b Gul 1, D. Prasad c Akmal b Junaid 17, R. Herath (not out) 34, C. Welegedara b Gul 0; Extras (lb-5, nb-6): 11; Total (in 153.3 overs): 413.
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-177, 3-261, 4-300, 5-304, 6-330, 7-331, 8-359, 9-413.
Pakistan bowling: Gul 29.3-10-76-3, junaid 27-4-94-2, Ajmal 51-4-132-4, Rehman 45-14-103-1, Hafeez 1-0-3-0.
Pakistan — 1st innings: M. Hafeez c Jayawardene b Welegedara 6, T. Umar st Silva b Herath 19, A. Ali (batting) 10, Younis (batting) 0; Total (for two wkts in 20 overs): 35.
Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-35.
Sri Lanka bowling: Welegedara 5-1-11-1, Prasad 4-0-9-0, Kulasekara 3-0-14-0, Herath 5-4-1-1, Randiv 3-3-0-0.
