Galle Test: Sri Lanka in commanding position after Day 3

Zeenews Sports Bureau

Galle: When stumps were drawn for the third day in the 1st Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan at the Galle International Stadium, Pakistan were 36/3 in 15 overs in their second innings after Sri Lanka had declared their second innings with a total of 137 runs with the loss of five wickets handing the visitors a mammoth target of 510 to win the Test. Scorecard» I Day 3 Commentary » Starting their day at 48/5, Pakistan never really got going as Younis Khan departed early when the score was 65 on board. Adnan Akmal joined debutant Mohammad Ayub in the middle but was run out for just nine runs. Eventually the Paksitan innings was bundled out for an exact hundred in the 55th over. Spinners Rangana Herath and Suraj Randiv picked up 3 wkts and 4 wkts respectively in the innings. Captain Mahela Jayewardene instead of enforcing follow-on, decided to take the usual course batting and setting Pakistan what would be a near impossible target on a very deteriorating pitch. Paranavitana and Dilshan combined well at the top of the order to stitch together a good partnership of 81 before Paranavitana was scalped by Saeed Ajmal. Dilsan went soon after scoring a brisk 56 runs off 58 balls. Junaid Khan picked two quicks wickets in the form of captain Jayawardene ( 14) and Samarweera (15) as Jaya declared the innings on 137 for 5 to set Pakistan a target of 510 to win the Test match. With just 15 overs of play remaining Pakistan went into bat second time but the top order failed again as Mohammad Hafeez (4), Taufeeq Umar (10) and Azhar Ali (7) early. Paksitan ended the rather dull day on 36 for 3 with 474 runs still required for a win. Update 4: At the end of 13th over Pakistan were wobbling for 27/ needing another 483 runs to win the first Test with seven wickets remaining. Update 3: Sri Lanka declared their innings at 137/5 meaning Pakistan face a daunting task of chasing 510 runs in their second essay. Update 2: By the end of 35th over Sri Lanka were 123/5 with Prasanna Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews batting. The hosts were leading by 495 runs. Update 1: In 26 overs Sri Lanka were 93/3 after deciding not to enforce follow-on against Pakistan on day 3 of the first Test match at Galle on Sunday. Tillakaratne Dilshan made a brisk 56 (58b, 4X9) before being caught off the bowling of Junaid Khan. His opening partner Tharanga Paranavitana scored 25 before being adjudged lbw while Kumar Sangakkara departed cheaply after adding just a single to his name. Earlier, Pakistan were all-out for 100 runs in their first innings on the third day of the first Test against Sri Lanka on Sunday. Suraj Randiv took four wickets as Pakistan fell 372 runs short of Sri Lanka’s first innings total of 472. It was a good second day for the bowlers as 13 wickets fell and Pakistan were in huge trouble losing 5 wickets for just 48 runs in reply to Sri Lanka’s 472.