GALLE: Red hot Dinesh Chandimal smashed his second half-century of the match to thwart the Pakistan attack and put Sri Lanka in the box seat on day three of the opening Test in Galle on Monday.

The hosts were 329-9 when bad light stopped play for the day with Sri Lanka leading by 333 in their second innings.

Chandimal, who made 76 in the first innings, was batting on 86 with Prabath Jayasuriya on four at the other end.

For them, Oshada Fernando (64) and Kusal Mendis (76) also made significant contribution during their 91-run stand for the third wicket at the Galle International Stadium.

Mohammad Nawaz (5-88) claimed his maiden five-wicket haul and combined with fellow spinner Yasir Shah, who took three, to rattle the opposition middle-order in the second session.

But the 32-year-oldChandimal, who struck blazing form with his maiden double century — 206 not out — in his team’s series-levelling Test win over Australia last week, stood firm in another lower-order show of defiance after the hosts slipped to 235-7.

“Chandi batted so well in the first innings too. He has done what the team needs,” Mendis said of the veteran batsman. “This is a good total but if we get to that 350 mark, the bowlers will have lot of runs to play with. Tomorrow I think the wicket will get even better for spinners once you get the roller on.”

Chandimal reached his fifty and put on 41 runs with Maheesh Theekshana for the ninth wicket in a repeat performance from the hosts, who had hit back from 133-8 to post 222 in their first innings.

After Sri Lanka resumed on 36-1, Kasun Rajitha could have been dismissed in the first delivery of the day but Babar Azam spilled a catch in the slip.

It did not really matter though as Nawaz dismissed Rajitha, who had walked in as the nightwatchman on Sunday, in the next over.

Fernando and Mendis scored briskly to consolidate Sri Lanka’s position.

Fernando reached his sixth Test fifty in the first session but fell to Yasir on the second ball after lunch.

Mendis raised his fifty and took on the opposition attack with a few boundaries before Yasir (3-122) dismissed him with a gem of a delivery that landed way outside the leg stump and spun sharply to beat the bat and hit the top of the off-stump.

Nawaz, who is making a Test comeback after nearly six years and playing his fourth five-day match, kept chipping

away and got key wickets including Angelo Mathews and Niroshan Dickwella.

But Chandimal continued to pile on the runs hitting five fours and two sixes in his resolute innings on a pitch that is expected to offer more turn to the spinners come day four.

He brought up his 23rd half-century with a single to covers off Naseem Shah and was a thorn in Pakistan’s flesh again, stitching vital partnerships with the tail.

Ramesh Mendis (22) added 32 runs with Chandimal for the eighth wicket while Jayasuriya has added a further 21 runs for the last wicket with Chandimal.

Pakistan had an opportunity to dismiss Chandimal when he was on 68 but Hasan Ali put down a return catch. Pakistan also unsuccessfully reviewed a leg-before shout against him.

In a keenly contested match of tail end fights, Pakistan had also hit back to post 218, riding on skipper Babar Azam’s 119 as he batted with his own lower order on day two.

With Sri Lanka in a state of emergency, the second and final Test against Pakistan, originally scheduled in capital Colombo, will also be played in Galle.

Scoreboard

SRI LANKA (1st Innings) 222 (D. Chandimal 76, M. Theekshana 38; Shaheen Shah Afridi 4-58) PAKISTAN (1st Innings) 218 (Babar Azam 119; P. Jayasuriya 5-82) SRI LANKA (2nd Innings, overnight 36-1) O. Fernando c Babar b Yasir 64 D. Karunaratne lbw b Nawaz 16 K. Rajitha lbw b Nawaz 7 K. Mendis b Yasir 76 A. Mathews c Babar b Nawaz 9 D. Chandimal not out 86 D. de Silva b Yasir 20 N. Dickwella b Nawaz 12 R. Mendis b Nawaz 22 M. Theekshana c Rizwan b Hasan 11 P. Jayasuriya not out 4 EXTRAS (LB-1, NB-1) 2 TOTAL (for nine wickets, 96 overs) 329 FALL OF WICKETS: 1-33 (Karunaratne), 2-41 (Rajitha), 3-132 (Oshada), 4-164 (Mathews), 5-178 (Kusal), 6-218 (de Silva), 7-235 (Dickwella), 8-267 (R. Mendis), 9-308 (Theekshana) BOWLING (to-date): Shaheen 7-2-21-0, Nawaz 28-2-88-5, Salman 16-1-53-0, Yasir 29-2-122-3, Hasan 10-3-15-1, Babar 1-0-9-0, Naseem 5-0-20-0 (1nb)

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2022