DUBAI : Umar Gul ripped through Sri Lanka's top order with a burst of
three wickets in his opening spell on the first day of the second
cricket Test on Wednesday.Gul broke through in only the
third over of the match after Sri Lanka, electing to bat, slumped to
30-3 by the ninth over before struggling to 78-5 by lunch at the Dubai
cricket Stadium.Kumar Sangakkara, who scored a fighting 211
to help Sri Lanka draw the first Test at Abu Dhabi last week, was
unbeaten on 29 and with him was Kaushal Silva (one) after Junaid Khan
carried on the good work by Gul with two more wickets.The
27-year-old paceman Gul trapped opener Lahiru Thirimanne (one) in front
of the wicket with the second delivery of his second over as Indian
umpire Shahvir Tarapore upheld the appeal for his maiden decision in his
first Test.Gul then had two wickets in his fifth over, as
Tharanga Paranavitana slashed a wide delivery straight into the hands of
skipper Misbah-ul Haq who held a sharp chance. Tharanga made six.Off
his sixth delivery, Gul had the experienced Mahela Jayawardene edging
into the slips for Misbah to make two in two, leading by example in the
slips after Pakistan floored seven chances in the first Test.Amidst
the wicket slide, Sangakkara held his nerves as he straight drove Khan
for two fours to release some pressure at the other end. He also
benefitted from a dropped catch when Taufiq Umar failed to hold a chance
off spinner Saeed Ajmal.Khan, who took a career-best 5-38
to dismiss Sri Lanka for a paltry 197 in the first innings at Abu Dhabi,
dismissed Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan for seven, caught off
a rash drive in the slip for Misbah's third catch.Khan then broke Sangakkara-Mathews brief stand of 28, when wicket-keeper Adnan Akmal held a faint edge off Mathews who made 19.Sri
Lanka were forced to make two changes as wicket-keeper batsman Prasanna
Jayawardene, who hit a match-saving 120 in the first Test, was ruled
out due to abdominal strain.They also left out paceman Nuwan
Pradeep, giving a Test cap to wicket-keeper batsman Kaushal Silva and
bringing in experienced paceman Dhammika Prasad.Pakistan brought in left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman for paceman Aizaz Cheema as the only change.
