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Saturday, 27 June 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Sri Lanka's captain Angelo Mathews (L) plays a shot next to Pakistan's wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed during the second day of their second test cricket match in Colombo June 26, 2015. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte
Sri Lanka's Kaushal Silva (R) plays a shot next to Pakistan's wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed during the second day of their second test cricket match in Colombo, Sri Lanka June 26, 2015. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte
Sri Lanka's Dinesh Chandimal (L) is bowled out by Pakistan's Yasir Shah (not pictured) during the second day of their second test cricket match against Pakistan in Colombo June 26, 2015. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte 
Pakistan's Yasir Shah celebrates after taking the wicket of Sri Lanka's Tharindu Kaushal (not pictured) during the second day of their second test cricket match against Pakistan in Colombo 26 June - Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte
Reuters: Skipper Angelo Mathews and opener Kaushal Silva hit half-centuries to help Sri Lanka take a 166-run first innings lead against Pakistan and push for a series-levelling victory on day two of the second test on Friday.
Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah (5-95) claimed his second successive five-wicket haul but the visitors sorely missed the service of pace spearhead Wahab Riaz who will miss the series with a fractured hand.
Rangana Herath was batting on 10, while Dushmantha Chameera was yet to open his account when rain forced stumps with the hosts on 304 for nine.
Shah, 29, became the fastest from his country to the 50-wicket club in test cricket, achieving the feat in only his ninth match.
Shot out for 138 in their first innings, Pakistan received a jolt when Riaz, nursing a hand injury sustained while batting, was ruled out of the rest of the series, taking much of the sting off his team’s pace attack.
Resuming on 70 for one, Sri Lanka lost Kumar Sangakkara (34) before reaching the 100-run mark after the southpaw played a lofted shot off left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar and Asad Shafiq ran backwards to take a good catch at long on.
Pakistan’s improved catching also sent back Lahiru Thirimanne who offered a bat-pad catch off Shah and an alert Azhar Ali pouched it at short leg in his second attempt.
Shah dismissed Dinesh Chandimal and Kithuruwan Vithanage cheaply after lunch, having also been involved in Kaushal Silva’s (80) run out that pegged back Sri Lanka.
Mathews and Silva added 72 runs to steady the innings before a miscommunication led to the opener being run out after a patient 218-ball knock that included 10 boundaries. Mathews then added 73 runs with Dhammika Prasad (35), who fell to part-time off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez, to consolidate his team’s position.
Former captain Hafeez, who has been reported twice since November for a suspect action, faces a 12-month ban if a new assessment finds his action illegal. Shah, who took seven second innings wickets at Galle to set up Pakistan’s comprehensive victory in the first test, trapped Mathews leg before and dismissed Tharindu Kaushal to claim his third five-wicket haul.
Colombo (Reuters): Pakistan’s pace spearhead Wahab Riaz will miss the remainder of the three-test series against Sri Lanka with a hand injury, the country’s cricket board said on Friday.
Riaz, who will turn 30 on Sunday, was hit on his left glove by a Dushmantha Chameera bouncer while batting on Thursday and still sent down nine overs, often grimacing in pain.
The injury rules Wahab, whose fiery spell against Australian Shane Watson was one of the highlights of this year’s World Cup, for upto three weeks, the Pakistan Cricket Board said in a statement.
“An X-ray was performed at the end of the day’s play, which revealed a non-displaced fracture of the base of the fourth MCP bone,” physiotherapist Brad Robinson said.
“He was further examined by a senior orthopaedic surgeon who has advised that he will require two to three weeks rest in order to allow healing.”
The third test starts on Friday in Colombo. The injury also makes the left-arm paceman doubtful for the five-match ODI series in Sri Lanka, starting on 11 July.
