Sri Lanka have managed to establish a lead of 291 runs over Pakistan at the end of Day 3 of the third Test at Pallekele in Kandy. Skipper Angelo Mathews and wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Chandimal are still at the crease and these two players will begin the procedings on Day 4.
Earlier, Pakistan's 1st innings collapsed before the Lankan pacers as they were bundled out for just 215 runs. On Day 3, Pakistani bowlers bounced back strongly and Sri Lankan batsmen had to face some nervy situation.
Sri Lanka were reduced to 35 for the loss of three wickets earlier in the day. Dimuth Karunaratne, who scored a brilliant century in the first innings, was dismissed cheaply. Kaushal Silva and Lahiru Thirimanne too followed Karunaratne to the dressing room soon. Rahat Ali bowled well in the first session of the day.
Post lunch, it was Upul Tharanga and captain Mathews who stabilised the Lankan innings and added 45 runs together. Tharanga scored 48 runs from 47 balls before being the victim of Yasir Shah. Jehan Mubarak implemented his experience and played a sensible innings of 35 runs.
Mathews was the best batsman of the lot as he stayed put at one end. He scored yet another gritty half century to help his side establish a good lead over the visitors. He would feel that he missed out in the first innings and now he has made up for it. Chandimal and Mathews's partnership will be vital as the game progresses. If these two add another 100 runs to the total, then Pakistan would feel the pressure.
The wicket which is assisting the pacers fairly will trouble the Pakistani batsmen in the second innings when they would chase the target. However, Misbah ul Haq and company would want to get these two batsmen out who are well set and give themselves a chance to win a series at the Lankan island. If Sri Lanka can establish a lead of above 400 then it will be really difficult for the Pakistani batsmen to get those runs at Kandy.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka: 278 (Dimuth Karunaratne 130, Upul Tharanga 46; Rahat Ali 3 for 74, Yasir Shah 5 for 7) & 228 for 4 (Upul Tharanga 48, Angelo Mathews 77*; Rahat Ali 2 for 58, Yasir Shah 21 for 70); Pakistan 213 ( Azhar Ali 52, Sarfraz Ahmed 78*; Dhammika Prasad 3 for 78, Nuwan Pradeep 3 for 29, Tharindu Kaushal 3 for 37).
Where to Watch Live:
Day 4 of the third Test match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Colombo is scheduled for 10am local time (10am IST, 5am BST, 4am GMT) with live coverage in India and Sri Lanka on Ten Cricket and Ten HD. The live streaming option will be available on Tensports.com.
Cricket fans in Pakistan can stream the match live on GeoSuperTv.
Viewers in the US can watch the match live on Willow TV and stream the game on Willow TV Online.
