Sri Lanka stand solid on 181/3 before Tea on opening day of second Test

GALLE: The Sri Lankan middle order dominated Pakistan in the second session as Dinesh Chandimal and veteran Angelo Mathews put together a solid 61-run partnership helping their team go up 181/3 against Tea on the opening day of the second Test, here on sunday.

Opener Oshada Fernando shone for half a century before Pakistan broke Sri Lanka’s dominant start to cut the hosts 96/2 in the first session.

Fernando and skipper Dimuth Kurnaratne built a strong starting partnership of 92 races before Mohammad Nawaz made the opening breakthrough for Pakistan.

The left-arm spinner fired Fernando in the 21st after the right-handed hitter had completed his half-century.

Sri Lanka lost their second wicket just before lunch when fielder Agha Salman edged out Kusal Mendis on the non-forward side, ruling him out early by just 3 runs.

Skipper Kuranatane, however, fell prey to Yasir Shah’s leg spin on 40 when he missed a reverse sweep shot and was caught by the edge fielder.

Meanwhile, Mathews was given a chance when Pakistan captain Babar Azam brought him down on the decks in the Nauman Ali bowl when he was batting at 36.

Chandimal and Mathews’ fourth pair of wickets will take the hosts into the final session on opening day with respective scores of 35 and 36.

Earlier, Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat first against the touring team in the second Test.

READ: Sri Lanka wins toss, chooses to bat first in second test against Pakistan