Galle, (Samajweekly) Pakistan’s Shaheen Shah Afridi was back to doing what he does best –- picking up early wickets as the pacer ran through Sri Lanka’s top order in the first Test. Sri Lanka, however, recovered from the early setbacks to reach 242/6 in 65.4 overs on a rain-truncated opening day.
Shaheen Afridi, who last played a Test match almost a year ago against Sri Lanka and was out of action for some months with multiple injuries, in the process picked his 100th Test wicket.
Sri Lanka opener Nishan Madushka was the victim, who couldn’t deal with the angle and movement Afridi produced. The 23-year-old added two more wickets in his eight-over long opening spell, squaring up Kusal Mendis for his second before removing the solid Dimuth Karunaratne.
At 23 years of age, only two other Pakistan bowlers had achieved the feat of 100 Test wickets – Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. Akram, who is the all-time highest wicket-taker for Pakistan in Test cricket, hailed Afridi after he got to his 100-wicket milestone.
After Afridi’s early inroads, Angelo Mathews (64) and Dhananjaya de Silva (batting 94) built up a brilliant 131-run partnership to lead Sri Lanka’s fightback. The partnership came to an end on the stroke of tea, with Abrar Ahmed getting the scalp of Mathews, who walked back for 64, leaving Sri Lanka’s total at 185/5.
The final session of the day was affected by rain. On resumption, Dhananjaya and Sadeera Samarawickrama (batting 36) added a crucial 57-run stand for the sixth wicket.
With stumps approaching, Imam-ul-Haq grabbed a stunning catch to end the stand as Sri Lanka finished the day at 242/6, with Dhananjaya de Silva still unbeaten on 94.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 242/6 in 65.4 overs (Dhananjaya de Silva batting 94, Angelo Mathews 64, Sadeera Samarawickrama 36; Shaheen Shah Afridi 3-63).
