Paceman Chanaka Welegedara took two wickets with the second new ball, including that of centurion Younis Khan, to give Sri Lanka the edge in the third Test against Pakistan at Sharjah stadium on Sunday morning.
The 30-year-old left-arm paceman dismissed Younis (100) with the first delivery of the second new-ball and then had Asad Shafiq (16) in the same spell to leave Pakistan at 6 for 282 at the close on the third day.
Sri Lanka, who scored 413 in its first innings, still leads by 131 runs and is seeking a big first innings lead to give itself a chance of levelling the series after losing the second Test by nine wickets in Dubai.
The first Test in Abu Dhabi ended in a draw.
With just two overs to go left-arm spinner Rangana Herath removed Adnan Akmal lbw for 7 to leave Sri Lanka on top.
At the close, skipper Misbah-ul Haq, who reached his 13th half-century in the penultimate over, was unbeaten on 50 and Abdul Rehman was 3 not out.
The first two sessions had belonged to Pakistan as Younis added 98 for the third wicket with Azhar Ali (53) and another 100 with Misbah for the fourth wicket but Welegedara's double strike slumped Pakistan from 3 for 233 to 5 for 258.
Younis had completed his 18th Test hundred with a sharp single off Welegedara in the last over before tea, taking 188 balls which included eleven fours and a six.
Misbah was mostly blocking before hitting the 53rd delivery he faced for his first boundary, ensuring Pakistan did not lose sight of winning 2-0 if it wants to replace Sri Lanka at number five and jump one place up the current Test rankings.
After tea, both the batsmen upped the tempo as Younis hit a boundary and six off Herath to take Pakistan past the follow-on mark of 213, before notching another four off a reverse sweep as Sri Lanka delayed the second new ball until the 91st over.
The new ball was effective as Welegedara struck with the first delivery, bowling Younis with a sharp incoming delivery. Younis hit 12 boundaries and two sixes during his 211-ball knock.
Welegedara, who finished with 3 for 62 off 25 overs, then had Shafiq caught behind.
Sri Lankan bowling coach Champaka Ramanayake praised Welegedara's bowling.
Earlier in the morning, Sri Lanka was a bowler short after frontline paceman Dhammika Prasad injured a muscle and was unable to bowl after Pakistan resumed at 2 for 35.
That helped Ali, who scored his maiden hundred in the last match in Dubai, and Younis to bat out the first session taking Pakistan to 2 for 126 by lunch.
Younis, on 30, survived a close leg-before shout against Herath who extracted some spin out of an otherwise batting-friendly pitch.
Ali reached his 11th Test fifty soon after lunch but was bowled by medium pacer Kosala Kulasekara's delivery in the sixth over after lunch, for the debutant's first Test wicket.
AFP
Tags: cricket, sport, united-arab-emirates, sri-lanka, pakistan First posted November 06, 2011 08:41:48
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