Lanka claw back after Pak dominate opening day

Late strikes with the new ball left Pakistan on 289 for seven at the close on the first day of the third and final Test against Sri Lanka on Monday.

Late strikes with the new ball left Pakistan on 289 for seven at the close on the first day of the third and final Test against Sri Lanka on Monday. Pakistans batsmen had dominated much of the day with opener Khurram Manzoor scoring 93 and Mohammad Yousuf 90 after sharing a 167-run stand for the third wicket.

However,three wickets fell for just two runs in the final 15 minutes of the evening session as Sri Lanka hit back. Left-arm paceman Thilan Thushara was the pick of the bowlers,dismissing Fawad Alam (16) and Younis Khan (2) in the morning and then sparking the late collapse by trapping Shoaib Malik leg before for 45.

Sri Lanka,2-0 up in the series,had Pakistan in early trouble as the ball swung and seamed in overcast conditions in the morning. But Yousuf and Manzoor steadied the innings as batting became easier in the afternoon as cloud cover was replaced by bright sunshine and Sri Lankas bowlers were forced to toil hard.

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Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara even turned to the part-time medium pace of former captain Mahela Jayawardene in bid to conjure-up a breakthrough. But it was Chaminda Vaas who got the breakthrough,finding the outside edge of Manzoor and Jayawardene took the catch at slip. Minutes later Yousuf was run-out,before Malik and Misbah ul-Haq (27) steadied the innings.

Scoreboard

Pakistan (1st Innings): K Manzoor c Jayawardene b Vaas 93,F Alam c Dilshan b Thushara 16,Y Khan b Thushara 2,Mohd Yousuf run out 90,Misbah c Dilshan b Kulasekera 27, S Malik lbw Thushara 45,K Akmal batting 1,U Gul b Kulasekera 2,D Kaneria batting 1,

Extras (10b,2nb) 12

Total: (for 7 wkts,86 overs) 289.

Fall of wickets: 1-34,2-36,3-203,4-210,5-285,6-285,7-287

Bowling: C Vaas 20-6-43-1,N Kulasekera 14-1-43-2,T Thushara 19-2-77-3,R Herath 23-4-76-0,A Mathews 8-2-31-0,M Jayawardene 2-0-9-0.

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