Sri Lanka reach 36/1 at Stumps on Day 2 of the 1st Test after Pakistan's 218, lead by 40 runs

[pakrock]

Yes, Surprised by selection. Lot of bowlers and no real batsman , after Rizwan just no name all-rounders which haven't proved anything yet..

 

[MenInG]

Babar Azam fought valiantly along with the lower-order to keep Pakistan in the game against Sri Lanka on day two of the second Test in Galle.

Prabath Jayasuriya couldn't have written a better script for the start of his Test career. He was a menace to Australia on debut and Pakistan too got a taste of the skill of the left-arm spinner.

Jayasuriya struck off just the third ball of the day by trapping Azhar Ali in front of the stumps. After a brief period of resurgence from Pakistan, courtesy of the partnership between Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, Ramesh Mendis strangled the latter down the legside.

The wicket opened the gates for Sri Lanka, with Jayasuriya wreaking havoc thereafter. Debutant Agha Salman was done by the left-arm spinner's arm ball. A few overs later, Jayasuriya recorded his third five-for in as many innings and was on a hattrick having dismissed Mohammad Nawaz and Shaheen Afridi off consecutive deliveries.

Pakistan managed to add 80 runs to their overnight score but lost five wickets doing so.

Babar Azam the lone warrior

While wickets continued to tumble at one end, Babar Azam put up a gritty resistance at the other. As he has made a habit of, he broke yet another record during his innings – he became the fastest Pakistan batter to 10,000 international runs across formats and fourth overall.

The grind continued for the Pakistan skipper who received some support first from Yasir Shah and then Hasan Ali. With the two, Babar Azam added crucial 27 and 36 runs for the 8th and 9th wicket respectively and also brought up his 22nd Test fifty in the process.

Stunning resistance from Babar and Naseem

At 148/9, Sri Lanka were in the driver's seat and were on the verge of taking a big lead. However, what followed was an incredible show of grit and resistance from the final wicket pairing of Babar Azam and Naseem Shah.

Babar did the majority of the batting in the innings, opting to farm strike to protect the 19-year-old Naseem. Naseem, to his credit, played his role to perfection whenever he had to face the music. He showed tremendous patience for a No.11 and it wasn't until the 39th ball of his innings that he got off the mark.

The Pakistan skipper, on the other hand, mixed caution and aggression brilliantly to reduce the first-innings deficit. He brought up his 7th Test hundred, an incredible knock under the circumstance and kept going even after getting to the milestone.

It was Maheesh Theekshana who brought respite to Sri Lanka by getting Babar out lbw and bringing an end to an 80-run stand. By the end of the innings, the hosts were left with a negligible lead of four runs.

Pakistan got the big wicket of Dimuth Karunaratne before stumps, with Sri Lanka leading by 40 going into day three.

https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/2680645

 

[MenInG]

FYI

Pakistan Tour of Sri Lanka 2022

Sri Lanka Cricket in consultation with the Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to shift the 2nd Test Match from RPICS, Colombo to Galle International Cricket Ground.

SLC arrived at this decision in order to ease out the logistical challenges faced by our stakeholders in carrying out tour related operations, due to the prevailing situation in the country.

The 2nd test match is scheduled to start on the 24th July 2022.

 

[sl-fan-of-pak]

Excellent batting by Babar. Probably his best, because he's not as good with spin when compared to fast bowling. This will be a milestone for him under testing conditions.

What I don't understand however is...why Fawad Alam is not playing?

 

[ethan hunt]

FYI

Pakistan Tour of Sri Lanka 2022

Sri Lanka Cricket in consultation with the Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to shift the 2nd Test Match from RPICS, Colombo to Galle International Cricket Ground.

SLC arrived at this decision in order to ease out the logistical challenges faced by our stakeholders in carrying out tour related operations, due to the prevailing situation in the country.

The 2nd test match is scheduled to start on the 24th July 2022.

Galle is the worse venue for this pakistani side.
Colombo would have assisted pakistani seamers more . Doomed.

 

[Marooned]

Galle is the worse venue for this pakistani side.
Colombo would have assisted pakistani seamers more . Doomed.

That's really sad. Can't wait to get out of this spin hell.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

With one of the worst selections in recent times( that I can remember), we are still hanging on. We will lose but it least we have a small chance. Who the hell chose this team in these conditions needs to be sacked and a sensible fan should be appointed as the selection. Agha Salman was playing against my sons Sunday Parks league team 4 weeks ago and here he is playing in a test. Nauman is a poor spinner but he would have been OK on here because of his experience. If wasn't going to play here, why is he on the tour.

Indeed Nauman wasn’t going to play when they have Nawaz fully fit

People talk about playing Fawad here , also Nauman here

But they both failed when played against Australia in home conditions.
Players who can’t perform in home conditions with so much of experience should be discarded for ever if age is also not by their side

Waste for space. Had they played . I expect them to perform poorly too. It’s always this myth that players in the bench or outside the team is better than the playing 11

Having said that Agha Salman is a poor choice to go with when they have in form Shan Masood and youngsterShakeel.

 

[Marooned]

Indeed Nauman wasn’t going to play when they have Nawaz fully fit

People talk about playing Fawad here , also Nauman here

But they both failed when played against Australia in home conditions.
Players who can’t perform in home conditions with so much of experience should be discarded for ever if age is also not by their side

Waste for space. Had they played . I expect them to perform poorly too. It’s always this myth that players in the bench or outside the team is better than the playing 11

Having said that Agha Salman is a poor choice to go with when they have in form Shan Masood and youngsterShakeel.

The conditions are far different. This is where the team management should have been smart. It breaks really well here. Finger spinners are a better bet than Yasir here.
Both Fawad and Nouman should have played and I had said the same even before the team was released, so it's not just missing players who are not here.

 

[Bewal Express]

Indeed Nauman wasn’t going to play when they have Nawaz fully fit

People talk about playing Fawad here , also Nauman here

But they both failed when played against Australia in home conditions.
Players who can’t perform in home conditions with so much of experience should be discarded for ever if age is also not by their side

Waste for space. Had they played . I expect them to perform poorly too. It’s always this myth that players in the bench or outside the team is better than the playing 11

Having said that Agha Salman is a poor choice to go with when they have in form Shan Masood and youngsterShakeel.

They were poor against Australia but once selected for the tour,they had to play. The wicket has turn, enough even for club bowlers and that means you select your accurate, experienced spinner, which is Nauman. Fawad was poor against the Aussie pacers, here he would be in his element against the SL spinners

 

[sl-fan-of-pak]

Galle is the worse venue for this pakistani side.
Colombo would have assisted pakistani seamers more . Doomed.

Pallekele,Kandy is the best for pace.