COLOMBO: A maiden century from debutant opener Fawad Alam on Monday helped Pakistan steal the momentum to lead by 28 runs in the second Test match against Sri Lanka.
Pakistan overhauled a 150-run, first-innings deficit and finished the second day on 178-1 at P. Sara Oval.
Alam was on 102 from 153 balls, including six boundaries and a six. He pulled left-arm spinner Rangana Herath for a six and the next ball pushed the ball to third-man for a couple to reach his 100.
The left-hander’s innings included an 85-run opening stand with Khurram Manzoor and an unbroken 93-run partnership with captain Younis Khan, who was 35 not out.
Khan survived a confident lbw appeal on 4 that was turned down by Australian umpire Daryl Harper.
Pakistan started the second day with little hope having conceded the hosts a healthy 74-run lead in the first innings and still seven wickets to be taken.
However, seamer Umar Gul and spinner Saeed Ajmal took four wickets apiece to restrict Sri Lanka’s first innings to 240,removing their last seven first-innings wickets for 76 runs.
Later, Alam and Manzoor built on the platform created by the bowlers before Herath intervened to dismiss Manzoor for 38 through a catch to wicketkeeper Tillakaratne Dilshan.
Herath finished the day with 1-53.
Pakistan was all out on the opening day for a paltry 90 runs, its lowest-ever total in Test matches between the two countries.
Sri Lanka resumed the second day at 164-3 and appeared destined for a bigger lead but lost the advantage as Pakistani bowlers struck regularly.
The first break came in the form of a run out when overnight batsman Thilan Samaraweera was caught short of his crease for 21 with the total on 177.
Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara missed out on a century when he was brilliantly bowled between bat and pad by Gul for 87, ending a 150-ball knock that contained nine boundaries.
Dilshan was snapped up by wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal off spin bowler Ajmal for 21, before Gul dismissed Nuwan Kulasekera for 11 and Herath for a duck in successive deliveries to leave the hosts at 226-8 at lunch.
Sri Lanka’s innings lasted just six overs after lunch as the Pakistani bowlers wasted no time in polishing off the tail.
Angelo Mathews was the last batsman out for 27, caught by Mohammad Yousuf off Ajmal.
Gul returned an innings haul of 4-43, while Ajmal had 4-87.
Selection committee
Meanwhile, Pakistan on Monday appointed former left-arm spinner Iqbal Qasim to chair its cricket selection committee responsible for both senior and junior affairs.
Pakistan last month disbanded its selection committees following the resignation of senior election committee chairman Abdul Qadir, who cited interference in his work by the national coach, captain and others.
Following that resignation, former captain Wasim Bari was appointed to act as a one-man interim committee to select the 15-man squad to tour Sri Lanka.
Pakistan’s team are currently in Sri Lanka, where they are playing the second of three Tests, ahead of five one-day internationals and one Twenty20 international.
“Qasim will be heading a five-man selection committee,” the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement.
The other members were named as Salim Jaffer, Ijaz Ahmed, Mohammad Illyas and Azhar Khan, with Asif Baloch and Farrukh Zaman as co-opted members.
The 55-year-old Qasim, who played 50 Tests for Pakistan in the 1970s and 1980s, served as a member of the selection committee between 2005 and 2007.
The junior selection committee was previously headed by former Test all-rounder Ilyas.
The PCB practice of employing paid selectors since April 2007 has now been rescinded and there are reports in the local media that the new selection committee will be honorary.
