Sunday, July 12, 2009 COLOMBO: Pakistan team collapsed for a mere total of 90 runs against Sri Lanka after lunch on first day of the second Test match here on Sunday.This was Pakistan’s lowest ever Test score against Sri Lanka, eclipsing previous total was 117 made just in the first Test.Sri Lanka's pace duo of Nuwan Kulasekera and Thilan Thushara ripped through Pakistan's batting line after Pakistan elected to bat on a wicket that gave early assistance to the seamers, slumped to 19-4 within the first seven overs before going to lunch on the first day struggling at 74-6.Kulasekera, playing his eighth Test, grabbed four wickets for 21 runs and left-armer Thushara chipped in with three scalps in a dramatic Pakistani collapse at the P. Sara Oval.Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik was the lone batsman to defy the Sri Lankan bowlers as he returned unbeaten at the end of the innings with 39.Only two other batsmen, Fawad Alam (16) and Mohammad Yousuf (10) could enter into double figures whereas four batsmen, captain Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Saeed Ajmal and Abdul Rauf, got out for nought. It was not the start the tourists were looking for after losing the first Test in Galle last week to trail 1-0 in the three-match series.Pakistan appeared rattled after Kulasekera struck the first blow in his second over when Khurram Manzoor edged an outswinger into the hands of wicket-keeper Tillakaratne Dilshan.Pakistan captain Younus Khan departed in the next over without scoring when he chopped a ball from Thushara pitched outside the off-stump on to his stumps to make it 6-2.Kulasekera, who worked up a tidy pace, gained a valuable break in his next over when veteran Mohammmad Yousuf cut a ball to point where Rangana Herath picked up a low catch.Yousuf, who scored a century in the first Test, hit two boundaries in his 10.There was further trouble for Pakistan when Misbah-ul Haq edged a Kulasekera delivery to the agile Dilshan behind the stumps before he had scored.Malik took charge with three exquisite drives for boundaries, two of them off Kulasekera and one against Thushara.Left-hander Fawad Alam, who replaced opener Salman Butt from the side that lost at Galle, hung around for 81 minutes to make 16 and add 32 for the fifth wicket with Malik.Alam hit his only boundary, a square-drive off Angelo Mathews, in the 15th over, but was trapped leg-before off the seamer's next delivery.Thushara came on for his second spell and removed Kamran Akmal for nine, the batsman slashing a wide ball into the hands of the wicket-keeper as Pakistan dipped to 67-6.
Sunday, July 12, 2009 COLOMBO: Pakistan team collapsed for a mere total of 90 runs against Sri Lanka after lunch on first day of the second Test match here on Sunday.This was Pakistan’s lowest ever Test score against Sri Lanka, eclipsing previous total was 117 made just in the first Test.Sri Lanka's pace duo of Nuwan Kulasekera and Thilan Thushara ripped through Pakistan's batting line after Pakistan elected to bat on a wicket that gave early assistance to the seamers, slumped to 19-4 within the first seven overs before going to lunch on the first day struggling at 74-6.Kulasekera, playing his eighth Test, grabbed four wickets for 21 runs and left-armer Thushara chipped in with three scalps in a dramatic Pakistani collapse at the P. Sara Oval.Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik was the lone batsman to defy the Sri Lankan bowlers as he returned unbeaten at the end of the innings with 39.Only two other batsmen, Fawad Alam (16) and Mohammad Yousuf (10) could enter into double figures whereas four batsmen, captain Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Saeed Ajmal and Abdul Rauf, got out for nought. It was not the start the tourists were looking for after losing the first Test in Galle last week to trail 1-0 in the three-match series.Pakistan appeared rattled after Kulasekera struck the first blow in his second over when Khurram Manzoor edged an outswinger into the hands of wicket-keeper Tillakaratne Dilshan.Pakistan captain Younus Khan departed in the next over without scoring when he chopped a ball from Thushara pitched outside the off-stump on to his stumps to make it 6-2.Kulasekera, who worked up a tidy pace, gained a valuable break in his next over when veteran Mohammmad Yousuf cut a ball to point where Rangana Herath picked up a low catch.Yousuf, who scored a century in the first Test, hit two boundaries in his 10.There was further trouble for Pakistan when Misbah-ul Haq edged a Kulasekera delivery to the agile Dilshan behind the stumps before he had scored.Malik took charge with three exquisite drives for boundaries, two of them off Kulasekera and one against Thushara.Left-hander Fawad Alam, who replaced opener Salman Butt from the side that lost at Galle, hung around for 81 minutes to make 16 and add 32 for the fifth wicket with Malik.Alam hit his only boundary, a square-drive off Angelo Mathews, in the 15th over, but was trapped leg-before off the seamer's next delivery.Thushara came on for his second spell and removed Kamran Akmal for nine, the batsman slashing a wide ball into the hands of the wicket-keeper as Pakistan dipped to 67-6.
Comments