Dimuth Karunaratne fell seven runs short of his seventh Test century

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Dimuth Karunaratne scored a brilliant 93 and captain Dinesh Chandimal made an unbeaten 60 to help Sri Lanka revive their innings in fantastic fashion against Pakistan on the first day in Abu Dhabi.

Sri Lanka were coming into the series on a low as they were whitewashed 3-0 in their most recent Test assignment against India in July to August.

As for Pakistan, they triumphed 2-1 in their last Test series, which came against the West Indies in the Caribbean in April to May.

Choosing to bat first, Sri Lanka made a cautious start to their innings before opener Kaushal Silva was was clean bowled by Hasan Ali for 12 in the 18th over.

In the over that followed, Lahiru Thirimanne was on his way back to the pavilion for a duck after being given out lbw off the bowling of Yasir Shah.

Not long after, Kusal Mendis became Yasir’s second victim as he was caught behind for 10 runs.

With Sri Lanka in a spot of bother at 61/3, Dimuth Karunaratne and captain Dinesh Chandimal stabilised the innings with a 100-run partnership, during which Karunaratne surpassed his fifty.

However, when he was just seven runs away from his century, disaster struck as Karunaratne was run out by Mohammad Abbas.

Karunaratne’s knock of 93 came off 205 balls and included five boundaries.

Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella kept the scoreboard ticking with an unbeaten 66-run stand before stumps was called.

Chandimal ended up finishing on 60 off 184 balls, which included six boundaries, while Dickwella remained undefeated on 42 off 63 deliveries, which included five boundaries and a six.

Dinesh Chandimal struck six boundaries during his unbeaten knock of 60

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Yasir was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets, while Hasan claimed one.

With his two wickets, Yasir became the fastest bowler to take 150 wickets in Test cricket. The 31-year-old needed just 27 Tests to accomplish the feat, beating Clarrie Grimmett, who took 28 Tests to reach the milestone.

Sri Lanka ended day one on 227/4 and will continue batting on Friday at 10:00 local time or 06:00 GMT.