SHARJAH : Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal took two wickets in an over to check
Sri Lanka's victory bids on the fourth day of the third and final
cricket Test against Pakistan at Sharjah stadium here on Sunday.The
wily-spinner dismissed Angelo Mathews (13) and Kaushala Silva (nought)
in the final hour to stop Sri Lanka who were on the right track after
half-centuries by Tharanaga Paranavitana and Kumar Sangakkara.Sri
Lanka, aiming to level the three-Test series after losing the second
Test in Dubai by nine wickets, will seek some quick runs early on
Monday, with Paranavitana unbeaten on 66 and Kosala Kulasekera on four
not out.They lead by 237 runs with five wickets intact on a
weary pitch which helped the spinners as Ajmal, Mohammad Hafeez and
Abdul Rehman troubled the batsman with spin and deliveries that kept
low.The first match in Abu Dhabi ended as a draw.Paranavitana,
dropped on two and 25, batted valiantly to keep Sri Lanka in the hunt
as they lost Tillakaratne Dilshan (four), Sangakkara (51) and Mahela
Jayawardene (20) while in search for quick runs.Paranavitana has so far hit four boundaries and a six during his enterprising 156-ball knock.Paceman
Umar Gul provided Pakistan with a quick breakthrough as he dismissed
Dilshan, caught in the slip off the fifth ball of the innings.Sangakkara,
who collected 516 runs from the six innings at an average of 86 in this
series, added 75 for the second wicket with Paranavitana before he was
caught off spinner Hafeez, causing a middle-order slump Jayaywardene also fell to Gul, trapped leg-before wicket.Earlier,
left-arm paceman Chanaka Welegadara took his maiden five-wicket haul,
finishing with 5-87 after Misbah-ul Haq missed his hundred by just 11
runs as Pakistan were dismissed for 340.The lanky paceman improved on his previous best of 4-87 he took against India at Ahmedabad in 2009.But
despite Welegedara's effort, it was Misbah's fighting knock of 89 which
brought Pakistan closer before the 37-year-old right-handed batsman
fell 10 minutes before lunch, top edging a sweep off spinner Suraj
Randiv.Misbah hit seven boundaries and a six during his 261-ball knock.He
added an invaluable 47 runs for the ninth wicket with Saeed Ajmal (12
not out) after Pakistan lost Abdul Rehman off the last ball of the first
over of the day, caught in the slips off Welegedara.It
could have been worse for Pakistan if the Sri Lankan fielders had not
dropped Misbah three times. Wicket-keeper Silva failed to grab a faint
edge on a defensive push off left-arm spinner Rangana Herath when the
batsman was on 57.Two runs later Misbah's uppish drive off
Welegedara went between the hands off Angelo Mathews at mid-off and then
at 67 Misbah was let off by Tharanga Paranavitana off the same bowler.The
Pakistan captain took full advantage of the lapses, hitting Welegedara
for a straight six and four to take his team's total past the 300 mark.In
between Herath dismissed Gul for five, but Ajmal provided Misbah the
much needed assistance to bring their team closer to the Sri Lankan
total.Welegedara finished the innings when he bowled number 11 Junaid Khan for nought. Herath finished with 3-85.
