SHARJAH : Pakistan spearhead Umar Gul took a wicket in the first over of
the match before Sri Lanka fought back to reach 75-1 at lunch on the
opening day of the third and final Test on Thursday.Sri
Lanka won the toss and batted, only to see Gul remove opener Tharanga
Paranavitana for four, before Tillakaratne Dilshan (33) and Kumar
Sangakkara (35) steadied the innings with an unbroken second wicket
stand of 71.The experienced pair negotiated Pakistan's pace and spin attack without any trouble on a docile Sharjah stadium pitch.Pakistan
lead the series 1-0 after winning the second Test in Dubai by nine
wickets. The first Test in Abu Dhabi ended in a draw.Sri
Lankan captain Dilshan returned to open the innings after deciding to
drop opener Lahiru Thirimanne and paceman Suranga Lakmal, bringing in
off-spinner Suraj Randiv and 26-year-old paceman Kosala Kulasekara for
his first Test Pakistan were unchanged from the second Test.The
change at the top did not help Sri Lanka to a flying start as
Paranavitana slashed at the fifth ball of the innings from Gul and was
smartly snapped up by Younis Khan in the slips.Two balls
before his dismissal, Paranavitana was dropped at forward short-leg by
Azhar Ali, but the opener failed to capitalise on the chance Pakistan introduced spin at both the ends after 10 overs, but the batsmen remained untroubled.Dilshan
survived a confident caught behind shout off a short ball from Gul,
which seemed to have hit the glove, but Indian umpire Shahvir Tarapore
remained unmoved.
