Herath rips through Pakistan order

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Cricket365
August 15, 2014

Pakistan were still 76 runs behind Sri Lanka at stumps on day two of the second Test in Colombo, with Sarfraz Ahmed's 66 not out saving the day somewhat as they reached 244 for six.

Sri Lanka were all out for 320 in the morning, with the tail adding valuable runs before Junaid Khan wrapped things up with a five-fer. Rangana Herath then proceeded to dominate, taking five of the six wickets to fall.

Sri Lanka began the day on 261 for eight, and the tail quickly added some runs, with Dhammika Prasad and Herath playing some interesting shots. Number 11 Chanaka Welegedera also added 27 runs.

Junaid had four wickets overnight, but then bagged Prasad to make it five, his second such haul at the Sinhalese Sports Club and fifth overall. Funnily enough, all his five-fer have come against Sri Lanka.

Pakistan's knock started off well enough as the openers made their way to 47, but they once again could not pass the 50 mark as Khurram Manzoor was the first to fall, out for 23 to Herath, caught behind by Niroshan Dickwella.

The young keeper took four catches on the day, as Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq both fell cheaply to the Herath/Dickwella combo. Ahmed Shehzad was left at the top of the order to reach a half century.

As is often the case with the Virat Kohli look-alike, he failed to capitalise on his solid start, and was out for 58. He was the only non-Herath wicket to fall, instead out to Dilruwan Perera.

This left Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz to steady the knock, and they did well to put on a 93 run stand. They scored their runs at nearly four to the over, showing it was not impossible to bat on this deck.

But they could not reach three figures as Shafiq fell short of his half ton. He was bowled by Herath for 42, three overs before stumps. This left Abdur Rehman to bat alongside Sarfraz for the remainder.