Pakistan completely dominated 4th day’s proceedings as they took out Kaushal Silva and Kumar Sangakkara late in the third session. Sri Lanka now trails by 54 runs with only 8 wickets remaining and 98 overs left to play in the final day.
Pakistan started day 4 from a peculiar position of 118 for 5 but Sarfraz Ahmed’s counter-attacking 88-ball 96 and Asad Shafiq ton totally took the game away from Sri Lanka.
Both right-handers got together late on day 3 when Misbah-Ul Haq fell at the score of 96. Since then, Sarfraz never looked back as he continuously used the sweep shot to counter Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera. Both of them enjoyed a run-rate above 4 though Shafiq mostly depended on his defense. The pitch did not give much for the spinners but the fast-bowlers had some reverse-swing but the two youngsters made sure they were always up to the task.
Sarfraz Ahmed smashed 13 fours in his innovative knock which had sweeps, reverse sweeps, paddles and more. Unfortunately for the wicket-keeper batsman, he was undone by Dhammika Prasad in the 66th over which ended a valiant 139-stand with Asad Shafiq.
Wahab Riaz accompanied Shafiq to add 38 more runs for the 7th wicket before the big left-arm seamer was castled by Dilruwan Perera. Leg-spinner Yasir Shah smashed 4 boundaries in his rapid 23 runs. Shafiq added only 6 runs during that 8-wicket stand. Shah was cleverly caught behind by Chandimal off Pradeep.
The stylish right-handed reached his milestone in the 207th delivery and later was dismissed for a superb 131 off 253 deliveries. Incidentally Shafiq’s knock had only 5 fours. The visitors attained a match-winning 117-run lead thanks to a scintillating 101-run 9th wicket stand between Shafiq and Zulfiqar Babar. The number 10 tailender smashed 6 fours and 2 sixes in his valiant 60-ball 56.
Sri Lanka in their 2nd essay lost their 1st innings centurion Kaushal Silva early when the right-hander was caught at third slip by Azhar Ali off Wahab Riaz. The biggest setback for Sri Lanka was when Kumar Sangakkara was dismissed for 18 by turn and bounce of Yasir Shah’s leg-spin bowling. Opener Dimuth Karunarathne remained unbeaten on 35 with night watchman Dilruwan Perera yet to open his account.
Sri Lanka – 300 all out in 109.3 overs: Dimuth Karunarathne 21, Kaushal Silva 125, Kumar Sangakkara 50, Dinesh Chandimal 23, Wahab Riaz 3/74, Zulfiqar Babar 3/64, Yasir Shah 2/79, Mohammed Hafeez 2/40.
Pakistan – 417 all out in 113.1 overs: Younis Khan 47, Sarfraz Ahmed 96, Asad Shafiq 131, Zulfiqar Babar 56, Dhammika Prasad 3/91, Nuwan Pradeep 2/71, Dilruwan Perera 4/122.
Sri Lanka (2nd inn) – 63/2 in 21 overs: Dimuth Karunarathne 35*, Yasir Shah 1/21, Wahab Riaz 1/11.
