Rangana Herath put Sri Lanka within sight of victory in the second Test against Pakistan by taking four second-innings wickets on Sunday.
Chasing 271 to win the Test and level the two-match series after the home side won the opening match in Galle, Pakistan were precariously placed on 127 for seven at stumps on the fourth day, with their last specialist batsman Sarfraz Ahmed (38 not out) batting with tail-ender Wahab Riaz (2), with another 143 runs needed to claim an unlikely victory.
Earlier, Pakistan’s bowlers took eight Sri Lanka wickets for 105 in a remarkable comeback, but Pakistan’s batsmen crumbled on a turning Sinhalese Sports Club pitch.
Seamer Dhammika Prasad dismissed opener Khurram Manzoor (10) caught behind with the total on 17, and four runs later trapped Ahmed Shehzad leg before for eight.
Herath then snared Azhar Ali (10) caught at slip by Mahela Jayawardene, Younis Khan leg before for eight and captain Misbah-ul-Haq, also caught by Jayawardene.
A 55-run stand for the sixth wicket between Ahmed and Asad Shafiq developed, but Shafiq (32) had a sudden loss of concentration, charged down the pitch against Herath and was stumped by wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella.
Herath finished the day with a career-best Test haul of 13 for 178, exceeding his previous best figures of 12 for 157, recorded against Bangladesh last year.
Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara said his team fought well on a deteriorating pitch and put themselves in a good position to wrap up the series, capping an impressive past three months in which they won a Test series in England before losing narrowly to world No 1 side South Africa.
“Little bit of trouble with the bat today. We scored only 100 runs for the loss of eight wickets in the day,” he said. “It shows just how difficult the wicket was. But again, we showed a lot of fight to get 270 in front.”
Sangakkara said the team were surprised to have made such quick inroads into the Pakistan innings.
“What we needed was a breakthrough with the new ball, and Dhammika Prasad really gave us the momentum,” he said. “We didn’t expect to have them seven down in the session.”
“It was fantastic to see the way we bowled and fielded. The energy was really high.”
Earlier, Wahab Riaz and Saeed Ajmal took three wickets each to bowl out Sri Lanka for 282 in their second innings.
Sri Lanka resumed the fourth day in a strong position at 177 for two and with a 165-run lead, having conceded a first-innings deficit of 12, but lost their remaining eight wickets for 105 runs, leaving the match evenly poised.
Saeed Ajmal picked up the valued wickets of overnight batsmen Kumar Sangakkara (59) and Jayawardene, who was playing in his last Test innings, for 54.
Sangakkara raised his bat and waved at the crowd as he walked off, signalling that he may have played his last home Test innings. The left-hander on Saturday became the fifth highest scorer in Test cricket, surpassing West Indies great Brian Lara.
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