Pakistan hope spinners will turn game their way against Sri Lanka in ‘wide open’ game

Younis Khan, right, and Asad Shafiq put Pakistan in a position of strength. Eranga Jayawardena / AP Photo

GALLE // Younis Khan smashed 177 during a valiant comeback with the lower-order batsmen as Pakistan gained the upper hand in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle yesterday.

Khan, who came in to bat at 19 for two on the first morning, anchored the innings admirably to enable the tourists to pile up 451 all out by tea on the second day.

Sri Lanka replied with 99 for one by close, comfortably tackling both pace and spin, but the batsmen will remain wary of the turn and bounce that will come into play over the next three days.

Left-arm seamer Junaid Khan trapped Upul Tharanga leg-before for 19 in the fifth over, but Kaushal Silva and Kumar Sangakkara settled in to put on 75 for the second wicket. Silva was unbeaten on 38 and Sangakkara was on 36 with Sri Lanka still 352 runs behind the tourists.

“This game is still wide open, even though there is some turn and bounce in this wicket,” Younis said.

“The third day’s play tomorrow will be very crucial. If we can get some early wickets, then we can put them under pressure.

“But Sri Lanka, too, have some very good batsmen who are capable of putting up a big score. A lot will depend on how our spinners, Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman, bowl in the morning.”

Younis, 36, who is playing his 90th Test, batted for eight hours and 16 minutes, hitting 15 boundaries and a six in his 24th Test century.

Pakistan, who resumed at their overnight score of 261 for four, went to lunch on 347 for five with Asad Shafiq making 75 during a fifth-wicket stand of 137 with Khan.

The visitors added 32 runs in the first hour when left-arm spinner Rangana Herath broke through for Sri Lanka by trapping Shafiq leg-before. Off-spinner Dilruwan Perera, who had gone without a wicket for four sessions, struck five times in the post-lunch period to hasten the end of Pakistan’s innings.

Perera ended Khan’s vigil soon after lunch by beating the well-set batsman in the air, resulting in an easy catch at short mid-wicket, a soft dismissal that came against the run of play.

Pakistan’s wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed made 55 and shared a sixth-wicket stand of 66 with Khan when he, too, lobbed an easy catch to mid-on to give Perera his second wicket.

The off-spinner had Saeed Ajmal and Junaid caught at leg-slip by Mahela Jayawardene, taking the retiring former Sri Lankan captain’s tally to 202 Test catches. Only India’s Rahul Dravid has taken more catches (210) by a fielder other than a wicket-keeper.

Tailender Rehman, essentially a left-arm spinner, showed his batting skills by hammering six fours and a six while making 50, his second Test half-century.

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