Abu Dhabi: Twenty-one-year-old Junaid Khan, a surprise inclusion for only his second Test, repaid his skipper Misbah-ul-Haq's faith with a spell of five for 38 to help Pakistan take control of the first Test against Sri Lanka at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi yesterday.
Khan's spell, which included three wickets in the space of five balls, helped his side bowl out Sri Lanka for 197, while at close of play Pakistan were 27 for no loss.
It was a bold decision by Misbah not only to pick Khan, who took just one wicket in his debut match last month against Zimbabwe, but also to ask Sri Lanka to bat first after winning the toss.
When Sri Lankan openers Lahiru Thirimanna and Tharanga Paranavitana meandered to 48 without loss with a couple of overs left before the lunch break and his pace trio of Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema and Khan failing to drive home any advantage on the greenish-brown wicket, it looked like a long, hard day under the sun for Pakistan.
But Saeed Ajmal struck the opening blow when Younus Khan latched on to a low catch to send back Thirimanna for 20 and Misbah's men seized the initiative.
First breakthrough
A fiery spell by Cheema saw him strike with his first ball after lunch to get rid of the dangerous Kumar Sangakkara and he then peppered the equally solid Mahela Jayawardene with his searing pace and bounce. Jayawardene did counter-attack when he pulled Cheema for a six, but it was clear who was in the ascendancy.
After Cheema and Ajmal had softened the Lankans, Gul came back to end Paranavitana's patient innings. Another short ball saw the opener fending to Adnan Akmal who took his second catch behind the stumps.
At 79 for three, skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan joined Jayawardene and the two began to repair the damage before a rank bad decision by Tony Hill ended Dilshan's vigil.
Then came the dream spell from Junaid Khan, who first had the experienced Jayawardene caught in the slips by Hafeez for a gritty 28, and three balls later yorked the other Jayawardene (Prasanna) for a duck, getting the crowd on their feet. Khan then struck again with the first ball of his next over, when he had Rangana Herath plumb in front for another duck to leave Sri Lanka in real trouble.
Angelo Matthews scored a gutsy half-century and put on 54 for the eighth wicket with Suranga Lakmal and another 25 for the ninth wicket with Chanaka Welegedara. But Junaid got rid of Welegedera and debutant Nuwan Pradeep to finish with a five-wicket haul, before the openers Mohammed Hafeez (17) and Taufeeq Umar (8) saw Pakistan safely to the close.
Sri Lanka first innings:
- T. Paranavitana c A. Akmal b Gul 37
- L. Thirimanne c Y. Khan b Ajmal 20
- K. Sangakkara c A. Akmal b Cheema 2
- M. Jayawardene c Hafeez b Junaid 28
- T. Dilshan c A. Akmal b Ajmal 19
- A. Mathews not out 52
- P. Jayawardene b Junaid 0
- R. Herath lbw b Junaid 0
- S. Lakmal c Hafeez b Gul 18
- C. Welegedara c Umar b Junaid 11
- N. Pradeep c A. Akmal b Junaid 1
Extras (lb-3, w-1, nb-5) 9
Total (all out; 74.1 overs) 197
Fall of wickets: 1-48 2-51 3-79 4-112 5-112 6-112 7-114 8-168 9-193.
Bowling: Gul 11-1-37-2 (3nb), Cheema 15-5-51-1 (1nb), Hafeez 9-3-12-0, J. Khan 14.1-3-38-5 (1nb, 1w), Ajmal 25-5-56-2
Pakistan first innings:
- M. Hafeez not out 17
- T. Umar not out 8
Extras (nb-2) 2
Total (no loss; 8 overs) 27
To bat: A. Ali, Y. Khan, Misbah-ul Haq, A. Shafiq, A. Akmal, U. Gul, A. Cheema, S. Ajmal, J. Khan
Bowling: Welegedara 2-0-9-0 (2nb), Lakmal 3-0-8-0, Herath 2-1-2-0, Pradeep 1-0-8-0.
