News

Daniel redresses the balance

Another day of delays and interruptions due to poor weather conditions allowed only 34.2 overs of play on the second day of the first unofficial Test between Sri Lanka A and Pakistan A at the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy

Sa'adi Thawfeeq
06-Apr-2005
Sri Lanka A 237 (Jayawardene 66*, Yasir Arafat 5-76) v Pakistan A 105 for 4


Prasanna Jayawardene: 66 not out © CricInfo
Ian Daniel took 2 for 12 from six overs with his part-time offcutters to redress the balance on the third day of the rain-affected Test between Sri Lanka A and Pakistan A in Kandy, as Pakistan reached 105 for 4 at the close, in reply to Sri Lanka's first-innings 237.
At one stage Pakistan A had been strongly placed at 84 for 1, but Daniel was introduced after tea and broke a threatening second-wicket stand between opener Bazid Khan and Wajahatullah Wasti, before following up with the important wicket of Hasan Raza for 10. Shortly afterwards, the umpires offered the light to the batsmen.
Wasti was caught behind for 16 by Prasanna Jayawardene when he attempted a cut, and Raza played across the line to be trapped lbw. Sandwiched between these two dismissals was the wicket of Aamir Bashir for 3. He was unlucky to be caught off the boot of Jayawardene by Mubarak at slip when he cut at a delivery from the legspinner, Malinga Bandara.
Wijekoon provided the initial breakthrough for Sri Lanka A by trapping Pakistan's captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, lbw for 17 in the sixth over. Bazid, the son of the famous Pakistan opening batsman Majid Khan was undefeated on 45, having batted 146 minutes and stroked six fours.
For the first time in the match, play had begun in bright and sunny conditions, whereupon Jayawardene's valiant 66 not out guided them from 101 for 4 to 237 all out. He has been overlooked for the national team because there are suspicions about his batting, but Jayawardene showed in the 161 minutes that he was in the middle how good a batsman he can be if he puts his mind to the matter.
He hit eight fours and faced 114 balls and would have contributed more had he not run short of partners. Throughout the A series against England and Pakistan, Jayawardene had shown promise but never got beyond the 30s. Today's innings was a two-part affair, after he was forced to retire hurt on 17 by Najaf Shah, who struck him on the side of the helmet.
Apart from Jayawardene, only Jehan Mubarak, the captain, batted with any confidence as the rest of the batting fell to the fast-medium pace of Yasir Arafat, who finished with 5 for 76. In fact all ten wickets were claimed by Pakistan's three-pronged seam attack who bowled a fuller length and used the reverse-swing to good effect.
Having overcome some testing bowling at the start of play, Mubarak looked to be getting into his stride when he was rather unfortunate to be given out lbw by umpire Peter Manuel for 33. It was no surprise to see the batsman express his disappointment by throwing his bat in the air and catching it while walking back to the dressing-room.
Mubarak failed miserably in the series against England A and in the subsequent one-day triangular, and was showing signs of coming out of the rut when his innings was rudely cut short. It was the second doubtful decision that Mubarak had got from Manuel inside a fortnight, the first being a stumping in the one-day game against Pakistan A at the Moors SC grounds.