GALLE: On day three of the first Test on Monday, Sri Lanka’s hot-shot Dinesh Chandimal hit his second consecutive half-ton to push his team’s lead past 300 and thwart the Pakistani attack under Babar Azam.
When play was suspended for the day in Galle due to poor lighting, the hosts were 329 for nine.
blazing hot Dinesh Chandimal
At the end of play, Sri Lanka was leading by 333 in their second innings, and Chandimal was on 86 and Prabath Jayasuriya was on 4.Dinesh
In the second session, Mohammad Nawaz took his first five-wicket haul and worked with Yasir Shah, another spinner, who also took three wickets, to trouble the opposition middle order.
The hosts slipped to 235-7, but Chandimal, who was in blistering form with his first double century (206 not out) in his team’s series-tying Test victory over Australia last week, maintained his composure in another lower-order display of defiance.
The hosts, who had rallied from 133-8 to post 222 in their first innings, once again put on a strong performance as he reached his fifty and added 41 runs with Maheesh Theekshana for the ninth wicket.Dinesh
Earlier, after an early wicket in the morning session, Kusal Mendis made 76 and opener Oshada Fernando scored 64, putting together a crucial third-wicket stand of 91 to rally the team.
After lunch, Oshada, who had just reached his sixth Test fifty, was bowled out by Yasir on the first ball.
Before Yasir bowled him with an unplayable delivery that pitched outside leg and turned to hit the top of off stump, Kusal had reached his fifty and was posing a threat to the opposing attack with a few boundaries.
Nawaz, who is returning to the Test field after almost six years and is participating in his fourth five-day match, continued to make progress and eventually took out important players like Angelo Mathews and Niroshan Dickwella.Dinesh
On the third ball of the day, he struck out nightwatchman Kasun Rajitha to get Pakistan going, but the Sri Lankan batsmen kept coming back on a pitch that was predicted to have more turn on day four.
Babar Azam
In a closely fought match of tail-end battles, Pakistan had also rallied to post 218 thanks to captain Babar Azam’s 119 on day two of his own lower order batting.
In the first test against Pakistan, Dinesh Chandimal pushes Sri Lanka’s advantage past 300. When play was suspended for the day in Galle due to poor lighting, the hosts were 329 for nine. Sri Lanka was leading by 333 runs in their second innings as play came to a close, and Chandimal (on 86) and Prabath Jayasuriya (on 4) were still batting. France Press Agency Last modified: July 18, 2022, 06:44 IST Time to Read: 3 min.
In the first test against Pakistan, Dinesh Chandimal pushes Sri Lanka’s advantage past 300.
I simply focused on transferring my strategy from the nets to execute it in the middle and maintain my fundamentals. Particularly on this pitch, we needed to bowl effectively.
All-rounder and left-handed batter Nawaz expressed his hope that the target wouldn’t be much higher than the current total, adding that it would be “achievable” with two or three solid partnerships.
On the third ball of the day, he struck out nightwatchman Kasun Rajitha to get Pakistan going, but the Sri Lankan batsmen kept coming back on a pitch that was predicted to have more turn on day four.
When play was suspended for the day in Galle due to poor lighting, the hosts were 329 for nine. Sri Lanka was leading by 333 runs in their second innings as play came to a close, and Chandimal (on 86) and Prabath Jayasuriya (on 4) were still batting.
