COLOMBO, 4 October — After struggling for most of the first day, Pakistan struck back late to prevent Australia from taking a complete stranglehold on the first cricket Test at the Saravanamuttu Stadium here yesterday.
Ricky Ponting’s super century and useful half centuries from Justin Langer 72 and Mark Waugh 55 still enabled Australia to finish at a comfortable 330 for five when play was halted early due to bad light.
Australia were cruising along at 272 for two in the post-tea session but lost three more wickets for the addition of 57 runs, two of them claimed by off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq and the third by skipper Waqar Younis.
Saqlain had toiled all day and his two wickets for 82 runs from 25 overs was a just reward. Waqar had caused a sensation by dismissing opener Mathew Hayden in the first over and ended the day with two wickets for 64 runs. But the Aussies recovered through Ponting 141 and Langer who shared a 183-run second wicket partnership off 237 balls.
Pakistan preferred fast bowler Muhammad Sami to leg-spinner Danish Kaneria in naming their final eleven. This deprived their attack of variety on a pitch that remained true and afforded strokemaking.
The Australian squad was as expected with three fast bowlers and ace leg-spinner Shane Warne. Steve Waugh’s decision to bat first after winning the toss appeared to have backfired when Waqar’s first ball of the match saw Langer edging to gully but a diving Muhammad Sami failed to latch onto the ball. Mathew Hayden pulled Waqar to the fence but fell in repeating the stroke off the fifth ball of the match.
Off a leading edge, he managed to sky the ball in the covers and Imran Nazir made no mistake.
Ponting joined Langer and the two set about building a big total. Once they had seen off the early overs from Waqar and Shoaib Akhtar, the pressure seemed to ease.
Both were watchful as they waited for the loose ball to punish. Langer who was hit on the arm by a rising Shoaib delivery, stood his ground and struck four boundaries in Waqar’s sixth over to hit him out of the attack.
However, it was Ponting who was in a punishing mood as he soon overtook Langer by driving and pulling for well-timed boundaries.
After trying with Sami and Abdur Razzaq to break the stand, Waqar brought on off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq.
Saqlain commanded respect, especially from Langer but Ponting was ruthless on anything short or wide.
The 100 of the innings came in 90 minutes off 17 overs and Ponting crossed the 50-mark with the help of nine fours while facing 57 balls. Soon Langer also reached his half century, crossing the figure in 58 balls with nine boundaries.
They put on 183 for the second wicket and the stand was broken when Langer edged a Razzaq outswinger and Rashid Latif took a good low catch. Ponting crossed the three-figure mark in style by ondriving Razzaq to the fence. His 11th Test hundred in 57 Tests included 15 fours and came off 125 balls.
Mark was tentative initially and was fortunate when a strong leg before appeal off Shoaib was turned down by umpire Steve Bucknor even before he had opened his account.
He took 17 balls to do so and the pressure showed as he grafted his way along. Australia went to tea at 236 for two, Ponting on 122 and Mark 23.
Waqar who had not bowled after his first spell, returned after tea and got rid of the dangerous looking Ponting who was now smashing boundaries with impunity. He slashed at the ball going for a drive and Younis Khan in the slip held a good catch.
Ponting had established a good base for a high total for Australia and his 141 came off 163 balls with the help of 23 fours. Mark was joined by his twin Steve and Mark became the third Australian after Allan Border and Steve to join the 8,000 runs club in Test cricket when he reached 47 while playing his 126th Test.
Mark’s half century was up in 69 balls and contained eight fours. He lofted Saqlain to the sight screen fence to bring up Australia’s 300. The next ball he came out but checked the drive to offer Saqlain a simple return catch. Steve was the next to go. He hoisted Saqlain over midwicket for the first six of the match but Saqlain had his revenge by snaring him in the leg trap for 31.
With the Pakistani bowling rate far below the required 15 per over, play had to be extended for them to complete their quota. A cloud cover hid the sun, the umpires consulted their light meter and decided to continue. However, before Shoaib could complete his over, the umpires offered the light to the batsmen who happily accepted.
