2nd Test, Day 1: Dimuth Karunaratne's 133* puts Sri Lanka in control

[Abdullah719]

Opener Dimuth Karunaratne compiled a brilliant century to put Sri Lanka in a commanding position at 254-3 on the opening day of the second day-night Test against Pakistan in Dubai on Friday.

The left-hander was unbeaten on 133, adding 118 for an unbroken fourth-wicket stand with skipper Dinesh Chandimal (49 not out) after Sri Lanka won the toss and batted on a flat Dubai Stadium pitch.

Karunaratne batted with authority and style to reach his seventh Test hundred off 197 balls, hitting Mohammad Amir for two consecutive boundaries to complete three figures.

He batted for 381 minutes, hitting 15 boundaries and a six.

Karunaratne and opening partner Kaushal Silva (27) gave Sri Lanka a solid 63-run start before Pakistan hit back with three wickets in quick succession.

Chandimal followed his 155 not out in the opening Test with another confident innings, collecting five boundaries as the Sri Lankan pair blunted Pakistan's bowling attack.

Pakistan took the second new ball after 82 overs but failed to claim any further wickets, with Amir walking off in the middle of his 17th over with an apparent injury.

Pakistan, who have never lost a Test series in the United Arab Emirates, also wasted both their reviews off the second new ball to cap a woeful day for them.

Leg-spinner Yasir Shah was the pick of bowlers with 2-90 while Amir returned figures of 1-59.

Leg-spinner Yasir Shah provided his team with the much-needed breakthrough when he had Silva caught behind off a short delivery.

Debutant Sadeera Samarawickrama impressed during his short stay of 38 runs, hitting five boundaries and a six before he miscued a pull and was caught and bowled by pacer Mohammad Amir.

Kusal Mendis played a rash drive off Shah and was caught in the slips for one.

Karunaratne cracked three boundaries in an Amir over and hit Shah for another to reach his sixth Test fifty.

Sri Lanka lead the series 1-0 after winning the first Test by 21 runs in Abu Dhabi.

This is the sixth day-night Test with a pink ball since Australia and New Zealand played the first at Adelaide in December 2015.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1362092/k...n-dominant-position-at-day-one-of-second-test

 

[Gabbar Singh]

The run rate being so low gives Pakistan a lot of hope. 250ish/3 could easily become 330 all out tomorrow. SL also has a very long tail. Still lots to play for here.

 

[troodon]

The run rate being so low gives Pakistan a lot of hope. 250ish/3 could easily become 330 all out tomorrow. SL also has a very long tail. Still lots to play for here.

Lanka should have dominated Pak bowling when their main bowlers got tired. Even when the part time pie chuckers were bowling, they did not score much.

Lankans can be all out for 320 tomorrow before lunch and that will leave the Test wide open. Pretty poor play from both sides. Especially Lankans. They could have easily been 300/3 instead of 254/3.

This match is still wide open. But Lankans are easily looking for a draw here. Terrible attitude.

 

[Oligochaetes]

Yea. It's the negative Sri Lankan attitude which will spell doom for them. They can get all out within 350 and lose the game

 

[Rayyman]

Lanka should have dominated Pak bowling when their main bowlers got tired. Even when the part time pie chuckers were bowling, they did not score much.

Lankans can be all out for 320 tomorrow before lunch and that will leave the Test wide open. Pretty poor play from both sides. Especially Lankans. They could have easily been 300/3 instead of 254/3.

This match is still wide open. But Lankans are easily looking for a draw here. Terrible attitude.

Funny because Chandimal said that Sri Lanka will look to win. But he himself is now batting like Misbah.

 

[troodon]

Funny because Chandimal said that Sri Lanka will look to win. But he himself is now batting like Misbah.

He is batting to win the series 1-0.

 

[Napa]

The run rate being so low gives Pakistan a lot of hope.

Lanka should have dominated Pak bowling when their main bowlers got tired. Even when the part time pie chuckers were bowling, they did not score much.

Lankans can be all out for 320 tomorrow before lunch and that will leave the Test wide open. Pretty poor play from both sides.

Totally wrong way of looking at the game. Losing only 3 wickets on the first day, when pitch is supposed to favor pacers definitely puts SL on top of the series (if not the game). Best days for batting should be the 2nd and 3rd days.

In spite of whatever the Sri Lankans may have said about going for a win, if they draw they win the series which will be an excellent result. So the team that should be hurrying should be Pakistan and not SL.

Scoring 30 more runs at the cost of another wicket is not worth it for a team that is ahead in the series.

 

[Someone]

@trooodon They are looking for the series win.. they don't care about this single match they are going to break Pakistan's proud UAE record. So a draw will achieve them that target.

 

[Napa]

Karunaratne has been fantastic till now, 246 runs and a bowler hasn't got him out yet (the catch in the last Test wasn't a catch).

 

[Napa]

@trooodon They are looking for the series win.. they don't care about this single match they are going to break Pakistan's proud UAE record. So a draw will achieve them that target.

One could say that playing for a draw is the way to lose a game. But that is not the case here as SL has lost only 3 wkts and their 2 best batsmen are still there.

 

[shaz619]

The very keen Pak cricket enthusiasts [MENTION=7898]Gabbar Singh[/MENTION] [MENTION=142162]Napa[/MENTION] and [MENTION=141520]troodon[/MENTION] have started celebrating in advance

 

[shaz619]

More to follow...

A damn shambles! that's what will follow!

 

[Sirris]

I don't think we have any wicket taking bowlers who could threaten Sri Lanka.

 

[troodon]

The very keen Pak cricket enthusiasts [MENTION=7898]Gabbar Singh[/MENTION] [MENTION=142162]Napa[/MENTION] and [MENTION=141520]troodon[/MENTION] have started celebrating in advance

Celebrating? I wanted a competitive series. Not some bore fest where both teams are going through motions.

 

[shaz619]

Celebrating? I wanted a competitive series. Not some bore fest where both teams are going through motions.

I've been watching the defenders instead and following the cricket on the live scorecards

Anyhow that's typical cricket in the UAE for you, it comes to life around day 4/5 which is the best time to tune in tbh

Otherwise if you've been struggling for sleep then watch the cricket between days 1-3

 

[Majestic_Inzi]

the onus is on pakistan to play quick cricket when they bat, Sri Lanka played well today.

If one of these batters fall early tomorrow then its game on as Sri Lanka has a long tail.

 

[shaz619]

[MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] is right, the PCB should hold their series in England; it's a better proposition on every level. Better cricket, the production quality provided by sky would also be outstanding and the PCB would make a few quid to because more fans ought to come to the games both neutrals/pak-fans compared to what you get in the UAE.

 

[sachin100]

The biggest positive from today is that amir got a wicket finally in this series.

 

[Mueez]

Inshallah Pakistan will come back stronger

 

[sachin100]

[MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] is right, the PCB should hold their series in England; it's a better proposition on every level. Better cricket, the production quality provided by sky would also be outstanding and the PCB would make a few quid to because more fans ought to come to the games both neutrals/pak-fans compared to what you get in the UAE.

That's not how it works in england. In uk grounds bid for test matches which is in the range of millions of pounds.

Last time headingly test lead yorkshire deep into bankruptcy because they couldn't recoup not even half of what they bid for hosting a test in pak aus series at that time

 

[Jabo]

What's the reason for only 70 overs being played?

 

[Abdullah719]

What's the reason for only 70 overs being played?

90 overs were bowled...

 

[shaz619]

That's not how it works in england. In uk grounds bid for test matches which is in the range of millions of pounds.

Last time headingly test lead yorkshire deep into bankruptcy because they couldn't recoup not even half of what they bid for hosting a test in pak aus series at that time

That's yorkshire, who said anything about hosting games there; am not sure you know it works in the UK or the market potential.

 

[sachin100]

That's yorkshire, who said anything about hosting games there; am not sure you know it works in the UK or the market potential.

U only said d about hosting games in England.

I gave u the reality of what happened when yorkshire thought because of very high amount of Pakistanis in yorkshire they expected good crowd for the matches but it was a disaster.

If pak aus matches don't bring crowds how can u expect crowds for other matches.

Crowds r a must because in England test matches r given to highest bidders by the ecb.

How will the grounds make money if they don't get crowds

 

[Napa]

I've been watching the defenders instead and following the cricket on the live scorecards

Anyhow that's typical cricket in the UAE for you, it comes to life around day 4/5 which is the best time to tune in tbh

Otherwise if you've been struggling for sleep then watch the cricket between days 1-3

Watched maybe an hour when I woke up at night and was trying to go back to sleep. Was nice seeing the debutant Samarawickrama bat.

 

[shaz619]

U only said d about hosting games in England.

I gave u the reality of what happened when yorkshire thought because of very high amount of Pakistanis in yorkshire they expected good crowd for the matches but it was a disaster.

If pak aus matches don't bring crowds how can u expect crowds for other matches.

Crowds r a must because in England test matches r given to highest bidders by the ecb.

How will the grounds make money if they don't get crowds

To be specific London/Birmingham, Pakistan enjoy support there more then any other place in the country amongst their fans and neutrals alike who love their Test cricket and follow pak more then other teams; in addition, another avenue for their income will come from the TV deals. There is potential and the ECB previously went out of their way to make the same proposal to the PCB a while back before the spot fixing fiasco left a bitter taste.

You're right that it wasn't a lucrative business move from Yorkshire's POV but that's mostly to do with British Pakistani's from Bradford who are mostly living off welfare from the state and are unemployed, can't really afford to pay for tickets to see the cricket they just stream it illegally online. But that does not prove it would not be successful in London or Birmingham; their communities are a lot more advanced economically and have a big support base; the grounds there also have the resources at their disposal to ensure such an endeavour. Yorkshireman are typically very stingy and live off loans they will never be able to pay off.

Also, as for the AUS/Pak series; it was actually lucrative for the PCB and they were better off by $1.5 million dollars. In addition we saw excellent attendance figures across all formats in London and Birmingham. So that reinforces my earlier points with regards to those city's.

 

[shaz619]

Watched maybe an hour when I woke up at night and was trying to go back to sleep. Was nice seeing the debutant Samarawickrama bat.

How can you get past that god awful production value, I was enjoying South Africa layeth the smackdown on Bangladesh on sky sports though it was a lot of fun

 

[Boi]

Why on earth is Wahab playing. He's utterly useless if the ball isn't going to reverse which it won't in this Test because of the pink ball. Mickey making blunder after blunder.

 

[Majestic_Inzi]

what do you guy think Sri Lanka will make in the first innings?

 

[giri26]

Anything less than 400 will be disappointing for Sri Lanka. Couple of quick wickets in the morning will bring Pakistan back in the game. Fantastic innings by Karunaratne though

 

[jnaveen1980]

My guess is Srilanka wants to put up a big first innings total as they can easily collapse in the 2nd innings.

 

[Aman]

Pakistan's undefeated record isn't as mighty as it is made out to be.

The pitches in the UAE are god awful, so you only really need one win to ensure a drawn series.

One Test always seems to be drawn and Pakistan usually play 2 or 3 Test series. In which case 1 Test win can be enough to win a series or at least draw it.

 

[ethan hunt]

Pakistan's undefeated record isn't as mighty as it is made out to be.

The pitches in the UAE are god awful, so you only really need one win to ensure a drawn series.

One Test always seems to be drawn and Pakistan usually play 2 or 3 Test series. In which case 1 Test win can be enough to win a series or at least draw it.

Clueless post .That is exactly the reason it is impressive .
Two test series are the easiest to lose or even draw .
On the other hand a home team.should invariably come out on top in a 4 match series.

 

[Aman]

Clueless post .That is exactly the reason it is impressive .
Two test series are the easiest to lose or even draw .
On the other hand a home team.should invariably come out on top in a 4 match series.

Truth hates mate, just because you can't accept it doesn't mean it's not true.

Pakistan have almost drawn as many Tests as Australia (7 v 9) despite playing 27 less matches.

Pakistan have lost two more matches than India have despite playing 26 less matches.


I'll find a break down of series, but it's clear Pakistan's numbers are nowhere near as good as India or Australia's.