Pakistan openers make confident start after Sri Lanka take 80-run lead

Pakistan had to work hard on day two of the second Test against Sri Lanka as the visitors managed to put on board an 80-run lead courtesy Dinesh Chandimal’s 74 off 143 balls at the National Stadium of Karachi.

Sri Lanka were all-out for 271 as the third session of day two started after tea and Pakistan were asked to come in to bat then before stumps.

The hosts did not lose any wickets and managed to score 57 runs courtesy Shan Masood (21 runs) and Abid Ali’s (32 runs) opening stand.

Earlier, Sri Lanka started day two after scoring 64 runs overnight for the loss of three wickets in reply to Pakistan’s first innings total of 191.

For Pakistan Asad Shafi (63) and Babar Azam (60) were the standout scorers while Abid Ali was the only other batsman to enter double figures with a score of 38. The seven remaining batsmen for Pakistan were all dismissed in single digits.

Lahiru Kumara and Lasith Embuldeniya bagged four wickets each for Sri Lanka.

However, when Sri Lanka started day two, they lost two quick wickets after adding just 16 runs to their overnight score of 64. From 80-5, Sri Lanka were then helped by Chandimal as he partnered with Dhananjaya Silva to push the score to 147.

Next in line were Niroshan Dickwella (21) and Dilruwan Perera (48) who made useful contributions to the Sri Lankan first innings.

Left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi was the star bowler for Pakistan as he bagged a five-for in 26.5 overs, giving away 77 runs. He was helped by right-arm seamer Mohammad Abbas who dismissed four Sri Lankan batsmen in 27 overs, giving away 55 runs.

Naseem Shah, touted as the next big thing for his pace, wasn’t able to bag any wickets and so was Yasir Shah. The latter was unlucky too as an edge flew low to Asad Shafiq at first slip but the fielder wasn’t able to cup it properly before it bounced into his hands.

Haris Sohail was the only other successful bowler as he bagged the prized scalp of Chandimal in his three overs at the cost of just 11 runs.

Pakistan will go into the third day planning to stretch their lead as far as possible so that they can put Sri Lanka under pressure on day four and five to eventually win the Test.

The first Test of the series was a draw since rain ruined nearly three complete days of the match in Rawalpindi.

This is the first time in 10 years that Pakistan is hosting a Test match after the Sri Lankan team bus was attacked in 2009.