KANDY, Sri Lanka – Sri Lankan seam bowler Thisara Perera took four wickets in his first home test as Pakistan recovered from a nightmarish start to reach 172 for five at tea on the opening day of the third and final test on Sunday.
Asad Shafiq (54) and Mohammad Sami (eight) were the unbeaten batsmen at the crease at the break.
Perera (four for 57) and his new ball partner Nuwan Kulasekara (one for 36) vindicated skipper Mahela Jayawardene’s decision to field first on the Pallekele Stadium wicket that offered some assistance to the pacers.
Pakistan, trailing 1-0 in the three-test series, recovered through a 85-run stand for the fifth wicket between Shafiq and skipper Misbah-ul-Haq (40) after they had lost their first four wickets for 56 runs.
The partnership looked threatening for Sri Lanka but Perera, who took three wickets in the first session, returned to strike again when he forced Misbah to nick one to wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene.
Perera’s fourth test wicket gave him his best figures in six test matches.
Adnan Akmal (10), who walked in following Misbah’s dismissal, retired hurt after a short-pitched delivery from paceman Dilhara Fernando hit him on his left little finger.
Adnan, who keeps wickets for Pakistan, received treatment on the field but was unable to continue and returned to the dressing room after adding one run to his total.
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Earlier, Perera began with a loose first over, conceding 10 runs to Mohammad Hafeez (22) but quickly found his line and length to trouble the batsmen with early movement off the pitch.
Hafeez added 35 runs with Taufeeq Umar before Perera slipped one through the bat-pad gap to remove him.
In his next over, Azhar Ali played away from his body to edge a catch to Thilan Samaraweera in the gully to be dismissed for a duck.
Kulasekara kept the pressure on from the other end and was rewarded when former Pakistan captain Younus Khan fell for a duck, edging a catch behind the wicket to Prasanna Jayawardene.
Perera, 23, returned to claim his third wicket when he trapped Umar, who had hit six fours in his score of 29, leg before.
