Sri Lanka ahead but struggle to step up the pace
Tea Sri Lanka 413 and 68 for 1 (Sangakkara 43*, Paranavitana 19*) lead Pakistan 340 by 141 runs
A mix of old-school batting and innovation from Misbah-ul-Haq and butter-fingered Sri Lankan fielding helped Pakistan cut into the deficit on the fourth morning in Sharjah. Following that, Sri Lanka, searching for quick runs to set up a declaration, were only able to make 68 between lunch and tea leaving them only 141 ahead with four sessions to play.
Kumar Sangakkara extended his excellent run in the series, becoming only the third Sri Lanka batsman to make 500 runs in a series, but the out-of-form Tharanga Paranavitana had a difficult time, plodding to 19 off 80 deliveries.
On Saturday, Sri Lanka were buoyed by some late blows, and perked up even more after striking twice early today. Chanaka Welegedara removed Abdur Rehman in the first over of the day, getting the batsman to nick to the slip cordon, where Mahela Jayawardene fumbled but the ball landed in the Paranavitana's lap at first slip. Soon after, Umar Gul heaved a length ball to mid-off and Sri Lanka were eyeing an early end to the Pakistan innings.
That would have happened if wicketkeeper Kaushal Silva had held on to a regulation take after Misbah edged Rangana Herath early in the day. That was the easiest of the three lives Misbah had - Angelo Mathews flew goalkeeper-style at mid-off but couldn't latch on, and Paranavitana put down a similarly difficult chance at square leg.
Misbah made the most of those opportunities. He may have scored at a rate deemed slow even by Test standards, but there were also several moves from him that wouldn't have been out of place in a limited-overs game: he kept shuffling around in his crease, especially against Herath, there was a reverse-sweep for four and a savage six over long-on.
He regularly declined singles to shield No. 10 Saeed Ajmal and, though there were some close lbw calls, the pair defied Sri Lanka for 18 precious overs - that didn't just reduce Sri Lanka's lead but ate into the time available to force a result. Misbah looked headed for his fourth Test century, but top-edged a slog-sweep off Suraj Randiv to fall for 89. The final pair couldn't last very long after that, with Welegedara removing Junaid Khan to wrap up the innings and complete his five-for.
Sri Lanka's reply got off to a horrible start as Tillakaratne Dilshan, the man most capable of providing them momentum, fell victim to Gul's knack of striking in the first over. Paranavitana, with only two half-centuries in his previous 15 innings, would have been dismissed by Gul for the fifth time in the series if Asad Shafiq had pouched a chance early on. He wasn't at ease against the spinners either, surviving several close calls for lbw.
Sangakkara too began watchfully, but began to open up once the slow bowlers came on. Mohammad Hafeez was greeted with a lofted on-drive for four, before Sangakkara crashed sixes in successive overs to boost the dawdling run-rate. Despite his efforts, Sri Lanka still need at least 100 runs in the final session, and a quick burst tomorrow to stand a chance of winning.
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