Nuwan Kulasekara and Suraj
Randiv combined to vanquish Pakistan as Sri Lanka triumphed in the first
Test by a massive 209 runs on Monday, their biggest win over their
Asian rivals. The tourists, set a near impossible victory target of 510,
were bowled out for 300 just before stumps on the fourth day despite
defiant batting from Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq, as Sri Lanka took the
lead in the three-match series.
The pair kept the Sri Lankan attack at bay for three hours to add 151
for the fifth wicket, Younis making 87 and Shafiq 80, before both fell
on either side of the tea interval. Offspinner Randiv and seamer
Kulasekara grabbed three wickets each to ensure Sri Lanka ended the
match with a day to spare after Pakistan appeared to be taking the fight
into the final day.
Randiv finished with seven wickets in the game, but it was team-mate
Kumar Sangakkara who was named Man of the Match for his unbeaten 199 in
Sri Lanka's first innings. Younis, 34, the most experienced batsman in
the Pakistan side with 77 Test appearances, held the innings together
during his 26th half-century in the five-day format.
Shafiq, a 26-year-old playing his 14th Test, matched his senior
partner with a fluent knock that contained 13 hits to the fence. But
just when the duo appeared to have survived the entire afternoon
session, Shafiq was dismissed against the run of play, edging left-arm
spinner Rangana Herath to Mahela Jayawardene in the slips. The
partnership between Younis and Shafiq, who came together in the day's
second over at 38 for 4, helped Pakistan salvage their reputation after
the tourists were shot out for 100 in the first innings.
Younis, who went to tea on 81, fell in the first over with the second
new ball when he edged Kulasekara to wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene.
Seamer Nuwan Pradeep, playing his second Test, bagged his maiden Test
wicket by trapping debutant Mohammad Ayub leg-before for 22 to send
Pakistan reeling at 243 for 7. Randiv claimed the last three wickets to
give Sri Lanka their third win in the last five Tests, a turnaround in
form following a dip after the retirement of legendary offspinner
Muttiah Muralitharan in 2010.
Pakistan lost nightwatchman Saeed Ajmal in the day's second over, run
out by a direct throw from the covers by Suraj Randiv. Younis earned a
reprieve on nine when Tillakaratne Dilshan picked up a low catch at
mid-off, but television replays proved inconclusive whether the catch
had been taken cleanly. The second Test starts at the Sinhalese sports
club in Colombo on June 30. The third match will be played in Pallekele
from July 8.
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