da fezbet： Rawalpindi, Feb 26: Pakistan continued their poor run with the batafter Sri Lanka dismissed them for a dismal 182 on the opening day ofthe three-match Test series here at the Pindi Cricket Stadium onSaturday
Farhana Ayaz27-Feb-2000Rawalpindi, Feb 26: Pakistan continued their poor run with the batafter Sri Lanka dismissed them for a dismal 182 on the opening day ofthe three-match Test series here at the Pindi Cricket Stadium onSaturday.Sri Lanka, who earlier made a clean sweep in the one-day series,seized control of the Test by reaching 58 for two at close of playwith Russel Arnold (23) and the old campaigner Aravinda de Silva (10)at the crease.There was more bleak news for Pakistan when former skipper Wasim Akramleft the field with a groin problem after bowling just 2.1 overs.However, a rejuvenated Waqar Younis gave Pakistan early hopes with theprized scalps of the in-form Marvan Atapattu (8) and skipper SanathJayasuriya (17) in a fiery opening spell.Although, 12 wickets fell during the day, the pitch itself was notdoing anything extra-ordinary to create panic for the batsmen. It wasa slow-paced wicket with occasional uneven bounce. The bowlers,however, gained some assistance from a strong breeze while bowlingfrom the Media Box End. Eight batsmen were dismissed from the end.Sri Lanka’s heroes were pacer Pramodya Wickremasinghe and off-spinnerMuttiah Muralitharan. The pair equally shared eight wickets betweenthem after Jayasuriya called correctly at the toss for the first timeagainst Saeed Anwar on the current tour. The two were well supportedby Russel Arnold who picked up four catches – three in the secondslips.Skipper Saeed Anwar who was a doubtful starter – because of stiffnessin his shoulder and neck – opened with Wajahatullah Wasti. The duocollected 44 runs in the first hour against the left-arm pace duo ofChaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa, and Wickremasinghe. But soon after thedrinks, things began to go wrong as far as Pakistan were concerned.Three wickets fell in a space of 15 runs.The departure of Saeed Anwar set the ball rolling for the tourists asVaas grabbed two wickets in consecutive overs. Saeed Anwar (23 off 49balls) was caught by Arnold at second slip as he slashed at an awayswinger without moving his feet.Vaas then got rid of Aamir Sohail for a duck with the total on 46,with a fine delivery that moved late and got the edge of the bat onits way to wicket-keeper Romesh Kaluwitharana. Wickremasinghe removeda cautious Wasti, who made 17 from 66 balls, with Arnold takinganother catch in the slips.Pakistan needed to regroup at this stage. Inzamam-ul-Haq and YousufYouhana appeared to have settled down despite some poor runningbetween the wickets. Youhana had a narrow escape when Muralitharan’sthrow from point missed the non-striker’s end by a whisker afterInzamam made a rare right call. However, just when things were lookingbetter for Pakistan, as Inzamam and Youhana carried the score to 125while adding 66 for the fourth wicket, Youhana got out to anoutrageous stroke after making 32. Youhana tried to hit Muralitharanout of the attack but mistimed his drive and was caught at point byArnold. Youhana’s 77-ball innings lasted 88 minutes and included fiveexquisite fours.The fall of the fourth wicket brought new Test cap Younis Khan to thecrease, who became Pakistan’s 158 Test player. Younis survived a closebat and pad chance during a nervous start.Just before the tea break, Wickremasinghe, who was brought back intothe attack, removed a well-set Inzamam at the total of 135. He faced96 balls for his knock of 44. The final session saw the remainingPakistani batsmen completely losing their way as the last five wicketscrashed for 16 runs.Wickremasinghe was on a split hat trick when he first trapped YounisKhan (12) off the last ball of his 18th over and then claimed MoinKhan (21) caught behind off the first delivery of his next over.Younis, who faced 55 balls during his 66-minute stay at the crease,hit two boundaries.Moin looked to be in good nick when he struck three fours in his 28-ball knock in 42 minutes. Without settling down, Wasim Akram had amighty heave at Muralitharan but only managed to hole out to Vaas atmid-off. All-rounder Abdur Razzaq, having faced 30 balls in scoringnine, also tried a similar stroke only to neatly stumped byKaluwitharana.And when Muralitharan had last man Waqar Younis held at slip by ex-SriLankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga, Pakistan’s innings was wrapped up in318 minutes. Wickremasinghe finished with impressive figures of fourfor 37 from 20 overs while Muralitharan was rewarded for accuratebowling with four for 45 and Vaas took two for 54.