Tea Sri Lanka 403 for 7 (Chandimal 151*, Karunaratne 93, Dickwella 83, Yasir 3-119) v Pakistan
Having sapped Pakistan in the desert for nine hours, having gritted their way past 300 for the second time in seven innings, this was the session in which Sri Lanka gained a grip on the match. Dinesh Chandimal‘s progress became less strained as he saw out his fourth full session to finish on 151 not out. Dilruwan Perera ventured blows of his own, after having previously been painfully quiet in the first session. Both Perera and Rangana Herath fell to spin – the first time more than one wicket has fallen in a session since lunch on day one – but in eclipsing 400 with a batsman still at the crease, Sri Lanka have thoroughly surpassed expectations. If the tail can scrap together 50 more runs on a pitch that seems likely to take significant turn, Sri Lanka will feel they have the opposition by the collar.
Though Chandimal largely strove to score risk-free singles and twos, as he has done for much of this knock, there were flashes of his old free-flowing avatar in this session – particularly against the bowling of Yasir Shah. Dusting off his rapid reverse-sweep, he slapped him behind point for four, in what was Yasir’s 54th over of the innings. Next ball, he socked Yasir over mid off for another four. At the other end, Perera had begun to find the boundary as well, having earlier been scoreless for 32 balls. Together, these two followed the 134-run fifth-wicket stand from earlier in the day, with a 92-run partnership that frustrated Pakistan.
more to follow…
Source: ESPN Crickinfo