LunchSri Lanka 166 and 81 for 1 (Karunaratne 36*, K Mendis 11*, Noman 1-9) trail Pakistan 576 for 5 dec (Shafique 201, Salman 132*, Asitha 3-133) by 329 runs
Sri Lanka have nine wickets in hand, and are still 329 runs behind. But they will hope that Karunaratne, in particular, can continue as he did in the opening session. He was strong through the legside as usual, and although somewhat uncomfortable against Shaheen Afridi, was confident enough at the crease to pick up the scoring opportunities on offer. He was especially good against the legspin of Abrar Ahmed, whose five overs cost 22 runs – both Karunaratne and Madushka using their feet well against him. Until the wicket-taking delivery came, Sri Lanka’s batters had appeared to have settled into a rhythm.
Noman’s first ball, though, was a stunner. It first drifted to leg, dipped on Madushka, then having pitched on about middle and leg, gripped the pitch to beat the batter’s outside edge and clip off stump. The batter was out for 33 off 72 balls.
Kusal Mendis attempted to get on top of Noman early, coming down the track to launch him twice for fours down the ground in Noman’s second over. But no further risks were taken with lunch so close.
Earlier, Rizwan had resumed his innings on 37, and struck three boundaries and a single off one Prabath Jayasuriya over to complete his eighth Test fifty.