Karunaratne scored his sixth Test fifty
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Sri Lanka opener Dimuth Karunaratne scored 50 and captain Angelo Mathews made an unbeaten 43 to lead their side to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Pakistan on the fifth day of the second Test in Colombo.
Chasing a target of 153 runs to win at the beginning of the day, Sri Lanka got off to a solid start before Kithuruwan Vithanage, who was promoted up the order, was caught by Mohammad Hafeez at deep midwicket off the bowling of Zulfiqar Babar for 34.
Pakistan got the key wicket of Kumar Sangakkara the very next ball as he was caught by Azhar Ali at short leg off the bowling of Yasir Shah for a golden duck.
Despite being dealt a double blow, Sri Lanka managed to recover as Karunaratne and Mathew amassed a 72-run partnership, during which Karunaratne brought up his half-century, before he was given out lbw off the bowling of Shah.
Karunaratne opted to review the decision, but replays showed that the ball was pitching in line and going on to hit the stumps. This led to the third umpire upholding the original decision.
Karunaratne’s solid knock of 50 came off 57 balls and included four boundaries.
However, that was to be Pakistan’s last moment of success as Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne finished things off with an unbeaten 32-run partnership.
Mathews ended up making 43 off 57 balls, which included four boundaries, while Thirimanne remained undefeated on 20 off 21 deliveries, which included two boundaries.
Mathews hit four boundaries during his unbeaten knock of 43
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Shah was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets, while Babar claimed one.
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq was disappointed with his side’s performance, and said: “The session from lunch to tea really dented as on the first day. We lost all our best batsmen during that period. That was, I think, the main difference in the Test match. It’s a really big worry for us that we put up really big scores in the first Test but in the second Test we were dismissed from 70 for 2 to 138. We really need to play the first innings well. Azhar Ali is improving every game, and Yasir Shah, nine matches, 50 wickets, and he is making a difference too. The injury to Wahab Riaz is a big blow.”
Mathews was delighted to have levelled the series at 1-1, and said: “The boys showed a lot of character after the defeat in Galle. We wanted to bat positively because we were not sure about the rain. So we gave green signal to play positively. It’s easy to get bogged down. The conditions were helpful, I liked bowling here. Kaushal Silva is playing the anchor role and others are playing around him.”
Sri Lanka pace bowler Dhammika Prasad was named Man of the Match for taking seven wickets, and said: “It was a great match because we came as underdogs. I am really happy with the way we played. I tried to bowl in good areas. We had a plan before this game and I executed it very well. “