Sri Lanka w🍸as 176-⛎5 in its second innings at stumps at Galle International Stadium.
Although Pakistan bowlers picked up wickets at regular intervals, an unbroken 59-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Dimuth Karunaratne and Dhananjaya de Silva saw🦩 Sri Lanka🍸’s lead pass 300 runs.
Sri Lanka will still be cauti💦ous after Pakistan impressed in the first test. The hosts had set a targ꧅et of 342 but Pakistan won by four wickets in the last session of the final day with a record successful chase at Galle.
Karunaratne, who is struggling with back spasms, only came out to bat after the fall of the fourth wicket. He was feeling uneasy while runnಞing between the wickets but🌄 was unbeaten on 27 when play was called off with 19 overs left.
De Silva dominated the partner♋ship a💎s he posted 30 not out off 52 deliveries with six fours.
Niroshan Dickwella opened the batting in place of Karunaratne and w🅷🐽as caught behind off Naseem Shah (2-29) when he chased a wide delivery without any feet movement.
The spin trio of Yasir Shah, Mohammad Nawaz and Agha Salman picked up a wic🀅ket apiece to keep Pakไistan interested as Sri Lanka lost four wickets between lunch and tea, going from 22-0 to 109-4.
Naseem came back for a second spel💙l later in the day to dismiss Dinesh Chandimal (21) in similar fashion to Dickwella.
Sri Lanka was 117-5 and only had a lead of 264 at that point but the partnership between Karunaratne and de Silva gave the advan🌳tage to the hosts.
Earlier, Pakistan resumed on 191-7 and added only 40 runs in the morning. Yasir Shah (26) and Hasan Ali (21) added 32 runs for the eighth wicket batting out the first hour of the morning. However, there was not much resistance from the rest of the tail as off-spinner Mendis accounted for the l෴ast two wickets to return 5-47 from 21.1 overs, his third five-wicket haul in a test innings.
The series is con༒tinuing despite economic and political turmoil in the island nation, which has led to severe shorta🌜ges of essential items such as fuel, cooking gas and medicine.
Protesters from across the country gathered in the capital Colombo earlier this month to oust President Gotabayཧa Rajapaksa, who had to flee the country.
The second๊ test was scheduled for Colombo but was shifted to the coastal town of Galle fearing trouble in the capital.
