da premier bet： Pakistan A rode on skipper Hasan Raza’s chanceless innings of 89 not outto end the second day of the first unofficial Test against Sri Lanka A on 192 for eight at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium on Thursday
da supremo： Sa'adi Thawfeeq14-Jun-2001Pakistan A rode on skipper Hasan Raza’s chanceless innings of 89 not outto end the second day of the first unofficial Test against Sri Lanka A on 192 for eight at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium on Thursday.As much as Raza held the Pakistan innings together, it was his opposite number Tilan Samaraweera who caused much of the damage to his team when he brokethe back of their batting with figures of four for 42.At the end of the day, the honours were even with Pakistan A trailing SriLanka A by 28 runs with two wickets in hand. Sri Lanka A made 220 onthe first day.With the pitch increasingly assisting the spinners, Pakistan A will relyheavily on Raza to get them a substantial first innings lead or as closeto the Sri Lankan total as they can because they face the prospect of batting last.Samaraweera with his probing off-breaks snapped up two wickets in his firstseven overs to have Pakistan A struggling at 56 for four at lunch. He madefurther inroads with two more wickets after the break to have them gropingat 114 for six.But Raza, playing the sheet anchor role, ensured the innings did not foldup tamely with a resolute exhibition of batting. At the end of the day hehad faced 224 balls and hit seven fours in a chanceless display. Hisinnings has so far spanned five and a quarter hours and Pakistan A wouldhave been in the doldrums without him.He completed his half-century in 174 minutes off 124 balls with four foursand even a verbal exchange with left-arm pace bowler Ruchira Perera when he lobbed the ball to no-man’s land at 85, failed to disturb his concentration.Perera bowled with a lot of fire to finish the day with two for 31 off 19 overs.Misbah-ul-Haq and Yasir Arafat stayed long enough to assist their captainin two useful partnerships that brought Pakistan closer to the Sri Lankan total.Misbah scored 40 out of a 69-run partnership for the fifth wicket in 116minutes. It was followed by one of 63 in 117 minutes for the seventh wicket withArafat whose contribution was only 17. Misbah, at 24, profited from adropped chance at slip by Upekha Fernando off Sajika Weerakoon.Sri Lanka bowled and fielded enthusiastically and were rewarded for theirefforts. They had one small mishap when Ian Daniel suffered a painful blowon the back of his left hand as he took evasive action at forward short-legwhen Arafat pulled a short ball from Samaraweera. Daniel was taken tohospital for a precautionary X-ray which revealed no fracture, but onlyswelling. Sri Lanka A coach Hemantha Devapriya said that Daniel would befit to continue in the match.Pakistan A were boosted by the arrival of their fielding coach Julian Fountain who pressed his young disciples into action at the end of play.
