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.
Perera, who had earlier been given out lbw twice in the first session, before overturning both decisions, could not quite manage a third escape however. Part-time left-arm spinner Haris Sohail, in his debut match, was hit for six by Perera, and would have had him stumped next ball had Sarfraz Ahmed been quicker to take the bails off, but he would remove Perera nonetheless. Perera reviewed again, in hope perhaps, after being struck in front for 33 attempting a big sweep. This time, he had not managed to get an edge to the ball.
Rangana Herath’s stay was brief, as he faced 10 deliveries before top-edging a reverse sweep off Yasir. The last runs of the session belonged to Chandimal, who clipped Yasir to deep midwicket to move past 150.
The other major contributor for Sri Lanka had been Niroshan Dickwella, who in the morning session had set off with trademark spunk, needing only four balls to move from his overnight 42, to a half-century.
Dickwella was not reckless – as he sometimes can be – but unlike Chandimal, he was constantly looking for scoring opportunities. Balls skidded past the cordon after taking a thick outside edge, other deliveries were scythed to the backward point rope, and when Yasir came into the attack, Dickwella even ventured the reverse-sweep against the turn, collecting a boundary with that shot. Otherwise he ran regular singles into the outfield, and generally seemed the more comfortable of the two men at the crease. That is, until he got to 83 and Hasan Ali got one to jag in off the seam. The ball would take the inside edge and clatter into the stumps.
Importantly for Sri Lanka, they have not only managed a good score now, they have also had Yasir bowl 56 overs. They have, in 2015, used the strategy of tiring Yasir out through the course of the match, in order to defang him in the second innings.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo