Pak fall quickly after Sangakkara falls short

Sangakkara missed out on his ninth double-century in Test cricket partly due to an error in the scoreboard on the ground which showed him on 194 when his score was actually on 193.

With last man Nuwan Pradeep at the other end,Sangakkara smashed Ajmal for a six and raised his arms in celebrations believing he had reached the coveted double-century. Team-mates,who saw the correct score on television,immediately signalled to Sankgakkara that he still needed one more run — but to no avail.

Unable to get a run off the last ball of the over,Sangakkara could only watch from the non-striker’s end as Pradeep was bowled by Hafeez for no score in the next over. The left-hander had held the innings together after Ajmal claimed his sixth five-wicket haul in 21 Tests to restrict Sri Lanka when the hosts resumed at 300-2.

Ajmal dismissed Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene for 62,before removing Thilan Samaraweera and Angelo Mathews off successive balls soon after the drinks break. Ajmal had Samaraweera stumped by Adnan Akmal for six and beat Mathews in the air to pick up an easy return catch with the fifth and sixth deliveries of his 30th over. Sangakkara denied Ajmal a hat-trick in the bowler’s next over and put on 80 for the sixth wicket with Prasanna Jayawardene,who made 48.

The tourists cleaned up the tail on either side of tea with Hafeez finishing with three for 55 and Abdur Rehman with one for 126.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 470 (K Sangakkara 199 n.o,T Dilshan 101,S Ajmal 5/146,M Hafeez 3/55) vs Pakistan 48/5 in 24 overs (M Hafeez 20,Y Khan batting 15,S Randiv 2/5,N Kulasekara 2/15)