SHARJAH: A Younis Khan century steered his team closer to Sri Lanka's
first innings total as Pakistan reached 199 for three at tea on the
third day of the third and final Test in neutral Sharjah on Saturday.Put
on the back foot for a majority of the first two days, Pakistan still
trail Sri Lanka by 214 runs but Younis (100 not out), with the help of
Azhar Ali (53) and Misbah-ul-Haq (16 not out), got Pakistan back into
the match after resuming on 35-2. Younis, who scored his
first run off the 31st delivery he faced, brought up his 18th test
century when he drove Chanaka Welegedara into the covers for a single in
the last over before the interval. Younis and Ali batted
cautiously at the start, with the first run in their partnership coming
after more than 50 balls, but started scoring freely as they spent
longer at the crease. The pair added 98 for the third wicket
before Ali became Kosala Kulasekara's first Test victim when the nippy
right-armer got one to angle back sharply into the Pakistan batsman's
stumps. Captain Misbah then came to the crease and looked untroubled, scoring his runs patiently from 72 deliveries. Sri
Lanka, trailing the three match series 1-0, were dealt a blow to their
bowling attack when paceman Dhammika Prasad was ruled out from the
remainder of the test with a thigh strain. Left-arm seamer
Welegedara managed to trouble the batsmen on a few occasions but the Sri
Lankan spinners failed to extract any purchase out of the wicket,
making it easier for the batsmen to score. Pakistan, who won
the second test by nine wickets, are playing "home" Tests in the Gulf
region due to security concerns in their own country. (Reuters)
