Tea Pakistan 194 for 2 (Shafiq 38*, Azhar 37*) trail Sri Lanka 419 (Chandimal 155, Abbas 3-75) by 225 runs
Azhar Ali gets down to sweep © AFP
The bowlers continued to toil under the blazing desert heat as Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq steadied the Pakistan innings after a pre-lunch wobble. Seventy-three runs were added as Pakistan crawled towards 200 during a partnership – and a session – where the drudgery of the Test was on full display. Sri Lanka continued to plug away, not bowling badly but having lost all of the momentum and venom that had Pakistan notably discomfited in the last half hour before lunch. It didn’t help their cause that the crease was occupied by the two Pakistan batsmen best equipped for the sort of gritty, laborious work required of them.
There was some encouragement for Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers this session, even if none of it translated into Pakistani wickets. Nuwan Pradeep, in particular, found some reverse swing, and bowled a menacing enough line to ensure Azhar and Shafiq didn’t get too comfortable. However, since the batsmen showed no interest in attacking the bowlers, it was a session that merely meandered along dutifully, the loudest applause heard when a dabbled single to midwicket from Azhar brought up 5,000 runs for the former Pakistan ODI captain.
More to follow…
Danyal Rasool is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @Danny61000
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo