NEW DELHI: An unbeaten 94 from Dhananjaya de Silva and a gritty half-century from Angelo Mathews helped Sri Lanka to beat a Shaheen Afridi-triggered top-order collapse because the hosts reached 242 for six towards Pakistan at stumps on Day 1 of the Galle Test.
After captain Dimuth Karunaratne opted to bat, Shaheen Afridi ran by way of the Lankan high order, because the hosts discovered themselves reeling at 54/4 within the morning session.
But De Silva and Mathews then solid a 131-run partnership to regular the ship within the first match of the two-Test sequence.
Mathews fell on the stroke of tea after making 64, however De Silva went on to sew collectively one other 50-plus partnership with Sadeera Samarawickrama, who made 36 earlier than Agha Salman dismissed him with the ultimate supply of the day.
Earlier, Afridi made an emphatic return to Test cricket after Sri Lanka elected to bat at a venue the place they’ve performed six of their final eight Tests, successful 4 of them.
Afridi had suffered a hamstring damage on the similar stadium final yr and the left-arm quick bowler didn’t have to attend lengthy to say his one centesimal Test wicket.
In his second over, Afridi reached the milestone when he induced a thick edge from opener Nishan Madushka, who made 4, and Sarfaraz Ahmed took the catch behind the stumps.
Rain interrupted play after 5.5 overs however Afridi mowed down Sri Lanka’s high order after play resumed as Kusal Mendis (12) perished within the slip and Karunaratne (29) fell caught behind.
Naseem Shah dismissed Dinesh Chandimal, who made one, earlier than Mathews and de Silva bailed out Sri Lanka.
Abrar Ahmed eliminated Mathews with the ultimate supply earlier than the tea break however de Silva, who hit three sixes and 10 fours in his stellar knock, remained on target for his tenth Test hundred.
(With inputs from Reuters)
After captain Dimuth Karunaratne opted to bat, Shaheen Afridi ran by way of the Lankan high order, because the hosts discovered themselves reeling at 54/4 within the morning session.
But De Silva and Mathews then solid a 131-run partnership to regular the ship within the first match of the two-Test sequence.
Mathews fell on the stroke of tea after making 64, however De Silva went on to sew collectively one other 50-plus partnership with Sadeera Samarawickrama, who made 36 earlier than Agha Salman dismissed him with the ultimate supply of the day.
Earlier, Afridi made an emphatic return to Test cricket after Sri Lanka elected to bat at a venue the place they’ve performed six of their final eight Tests, successful 4 of them.
Afridi had suffered a hamstring damage on the similar stadium final yr and the left-arm quick bowler didn’t have to attend lengthy to say his one centesimal Test wicket.
In his second over, Afridi reached the milestone when he induced a thick edge from opener Nishan Madushka, who made 4, and Sarfaraz Ahmed took the catch behind the stumps.
Rain interrupted play after 5.5 overs however Afridi mowed down Sri Lanka’s high order after play resumed as Kusal Mendis (12) perished within the slip and Karunaratne (29) fell caught behind.
Naseem Shah dismissed Dinesh Chandimal, who made one, earlier than Mathews and de Silva bailed out Sri Lanka.
Abrar Ahmed eliminated Mathews with the ultimate supply earlier than the tea break however de Silva, who hit three sixes and 10 fours in his stellar knock, remained on target for his tenth Test hundred.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com