NEWS
OTHER SPORTS
DIARY
PEOPLE
MATCH REPORTS
SLIDE SHOW
ARCHIVES

Sri Lanka grab advantage against Pakistan in first Test

Sri Lanka grabbed the advantage in the first session of the opening cricket Test against Pakistan here Saturday, with the home side struggling at 65-3 at lunch.

After losing the toss, Pakistan started confidently enough with an opening stand of 44 by Saeed Anwer and Wajahatullah Wasti on a slightly green pitch.

Captain Saeed Anwer, recovering from a stiff neck, hit two well timed fours before edging Chaminda Vaas to Russel Arnold in the second slip for 23 just after the drinks break.

Vaas struck a second blow when he had Aamir Sohail caught behind by Romesh Kaluwitharana for nought and ended with 2-28 in his first 10-over spell.

Wasti held the fort for 105 minutes for his 17 runs but departed when a outswinging delivery from Wickremasinghe caught the edge and carried to slip Arnold for an easy catch.

The undefeated batsmen at lunch were Inzamam-ul-Haq on 11 and Yusuf Youhanna on 1.

Pakistan played with three seamers and a spinner to leave room for six batsmen. They gave a first Test cap to batsman Younis Khan.

Sri Lanka preferred experienced Pramodya Wickremasinghe over Ravindra Pushpakumara and included both veteran batsmen Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva.

Sri Lanka enjoyed a 3-0 rout of Pakistan in the limited over games preceding the Test series. They won back to back Test series against Australia and Zimbabwe last year.

The Sri Lankans included three pacers on a green pitch.

Pakistan: Saeed Anwer (captain), Aamir Sohail, Wajahatullah Wasti, Younis Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhanna, Moin Khan, Wasim Akram, Abdur Razzak, Saqlain Mushtaq and Waqar Younis.

Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Mahela Jayawardene, Russel Arnold, Marvan Atapattu, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Pramodya Wickremasinghe and Nuwan Zoysa.

Umpires: Dave Orchard (South Africa) and Athar Zaidi (Pakistan).

ICC Match Referee: Brian Hastings (New Zealand).