Pakistan v Sri Lanka - Second Test

Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad

Pakistan: Majid Khan, Mohsin Khan, Ijaz Ahmed, Javed Miandad, Mushtaq Mohammad, Asif Iqbal, *Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, +Wasim Bari, Fazal Mahmood, Abdul Qadir.
Sri Lanka: S Wettimuny, RS Mahanama, AP Gurusinha, RL Dias, PA de Silva, *A Ranatunga, +RS Kaluwitharana, DS de Silva, JR Ratnayeke, RJ Ratnayake, GP Wickramasinghe.

Debuts: Nil
Umpires: CJ Egar (AUS) & S Kishen (IND)
Toss: Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's batsmen performed creditably in the first Test defeat, and given first use of a rock-hard track in Faisalabad they again batted well, providing the Lankans with perhaps their best day in the ATG arena thus far as they racked up 352 runs on a helter-skelter first day at the Iqbal Stadium. Hashan Tillakaratne was ruled out of this game with a groin strain, but Aravinda de Silva was fit again, and on his recall to the side he and Roy Dias compiled a wonderful stand of 168 in an afternoon session that saw the runs come at a rate approaching a run a ball.

The pair combined in a display of truly audacious strokeplay, but both missed out on their centuries as Imran produced a devastating spell either side of tea. The innings stumbled from 240-3 to 261-8, and Imran's five wicket burst saw him become just the third player, after Malcolm Marshall and Bill O'Reilly, to reach 200 ATG wickets. Somachandra de Silva, with his first ATG fifty, and Rumesh Ratnayake rallied the innings thereafter though and their excellent stand of 78 for the ninth wicket helped push Sri Lanka's total to 352, the innings having spanned just 82 overs. However, what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, and over the course of the second day Pakistan's batsmen metered out similar punishment as the tourists' attack again struggled to either contain or penetrate.

From an overnight score of 7-0, Pakistan piled on a further 391 runs for the loss of just five wickets on day two, with Majid topping his century in the first Test by stroking his way to a career high 161 before being trapped by a good slower ball from Wickramasinghe, Sri Lanka's best bowler on the day. Majid had earlier been part of a second successive century opening partnership with Mohsin, and he added a further 116 with Ijaz, whose first ATG fifty showed promise until he was caught in the deep off Ratnayeke. With opposite number Ranatunga dropping the field back, Imran managed to give the tail end of the innings some impetus with a cultured 83, and a last wicket stand of 66 with Qadir pushed Pakistan to a total of 538 and a lead of 186 when Imran was finally dismissed on the third afternoon.

It was Aravinda de Silva who bowled the Pakistani captain, and after a rocky start to Sri Lanka's second innings it was Aravinda the batsman to the rescue as he raised his maiden ATG hundred after coming so close on the first day. Two more wickets from Imran, including that of Dias for 3 courtesy of a stunning catch in the slips from Majid, had reduced Sri Lanka to 38-3, but de Silva then got to work as Sri Lanka moved towards making their opponents bat twice for the first time in their brief ATG history. That de Silva was dropped three times during his 143 should not take anything away from the quality of his innings, and the fact that the next highest score was Kaluwitharana's 38 highlights the dominance of the diminutive maestro's performance.

Sri Lanka's final total of 327 set Pakistan a relatively comfortable target of 142 for victory, and although a three wicket burst from Wickramasinghe on the final morning finally gave the visitors something to cheer in the field, it was a case of too little too late as Pakistan got home by five wickets to take both the match and the series. Sri Lanka's batsmen had again performed admirably but, just as in the first Test, their bowlers looked far from threatening, and a 3-0 whitewash seems on the cards as the teams head to Lahore for the third and final Test.

1st & 2nd innings scorecards
(click to enlarge)

Scores
SL 1st Inns 352 (PA de Silva 96, Dias 89, DS de Silva 57, Wettimuny 42; Imran Khan 5-73)
PAK 1st Inns 538 (Majid Khan 161, Imran Khan 83, Ijaz Ahmed 69, Javed Miandad 49, Mohsin Khan 46)
SL 2nd Inns 327 (PA de Silva 143; Wasim Akram 4-98)
PAK 2nd Inns 142-5 (Majid Khan 65, Mohsin Khan 47)

PAKISTAN WON BY 5 WICKETS


Man of the Match: PA de Silva