2nd day of 1st test. wht it was..

Taufeeq Umar hit his sixth Test century and fellow opener Mohammad Hafeez scored 75 as Pakistan took a firm grip on the first Test against Sri Lanka at Abu Dhabi stadium here on Wednesday.The left-hander made an undefeated 109 and added 118 for the opening wicket with Hafeez
and another unbroken 141 for the third wicket with Azhar Ali (60 not out) as Pakistan reached 259-1 by stumps, a lead of 62 with eight wickets intact.


If it was Pakistani bowlers' day, with Junaid Khan taking five wickets, on Tuesday it was batsmen's turn on Wednesday who further blunted an ordinary looking Sri Lankan bowling attack.

Umar, Hafeex and Azhar batted without any trouble on an unresponsive pitch to frustrate the Sri Lankans who remained in a search for an elusive wicket in the first and thrid session.

Azhar, who completed his tenth fifty in his 14th Test, ably supporting Umar.

It was Umar who edged Herath towards third man for a couple to take Pakistan past Sri Lanka's first-innings total of 197.

The ease with which Pakistani batsmen were coping, Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan immediately took the second new ball in the 81st over as their only chance to stage a fightback.

But even that did not bring any luck for the Islanders as Umar hit three boundaries, two off Suranga Lukmal and then glaneced the same bowler for a single to bring up his hundred off 259 balls.

Sri Lanka spurned a chance to get Azhar out, when experienced Mahela Jayawardene dropped a catch in the slips off Herath when the right-hander was only seven.

Earlier it was Hafeez who anchored Pakistan's innings after they resumed at 27-0.

Hafeez hit eight boundaries and a six during his confident knock.

Umar reached his 12th half-century with a sharp single, and has so far hit only three boundaries as Pakistan scored only 59 in the second session.

Umar was more cautious as Sri Lanka introduced spinners Rangana Herath and Tillakaratne Dilshan from both ends. They bowled four maiden overs between them with tight line and length, but did not get much turn.

Hafeez then broke the deadlock in scoring, jumping out of his crease to hit Herath over long-off for a six and then slashed towards third man to bring his fifth Test half-century.

He then swept the same bowler for two to bring up Pakistan's 100. Hafeez has so far hit eight boundaries and a six during his 121-ball knock.

Sri Lanka's three-pronged pace attack and spinners failed to give any trouble to the Pakistani openers on a pitch which had some grass on the first day.

The remaining two Tests in the series will be played in Dubai (October 26-30) and Sharjah (November 3-7). The Tests will be followed by five one-day and a Twenty20 international.

The series was shifted to United Arab Emirates after Sri Lanka refused an invitation to tour Pakistan over security fears.
© AFP

Sri Lanka 197
Pakistan 259/1 (98.0 ov)
Pakistan lead by 62 runs with 9 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Stumps - Day 2

• Pakistan v Sri Lanka Test Series - 1st Test
• Test no. 2009 | 2011/12 season
• Played at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi (neutral venue)
• 18,19,20,21,22 October 2011 (5-day match)

	Sri Lanka 1st innings		R	B	4s	6s	SR
	NT Paranavitana	c †Adnan Akmal b Umar Gul	37	128	3	0	28.90
	HDRL Thirimanne	c Younis Khan b Saeed Ajmal	20	69	0	0	28.98
	KC Sangakkara	c †Adnan Akmal b Aizaz Cheema	2	6	0	0	33.33
	DPMD Jayawardene	c Mohammad Hafeez b Junaid Khan	28	63	0	1	44.44
	TM Dilshan*	c †Adnan Akmal b Saeed Ajmal	19	22	2	0	86.36
	AD Mathews	not out	52	99	4	1	52.52
	HAPW Jayawardene†	b Junaid Khan	0	3	0	0	0.00
	HMRKB Herath	lbw b Junaid Khan	0	1	0	0	0.00
	RAS Lakmal	c Mohammad Hafeez b Umar Gul	18	31	3	0	58.06
	UWMBCA Welegedara	c Taufeeq Umar b Junaid Khan	11	25	1	0	44.00
	ANPR Fernando	c †Adnan Akmal b Junaid Khan	1	3	0	0	33.33
	Extras	(lb 3, w 1, nb 5)	9
	Total	(all out; 74.1 overs)	197	(2.65 runs per over)

Fall of wickets1-48 (Thirimanne, 25.5 ov), 2-51 (Sangakkara, 28.1 ov), 3-79 (Paranavitana, 40.2 ov), 4-112 (Dilshan, 47.1 ov), 5-112 (DPMD Jayawardene, 48.3 ov), 6-112 (HAPW Jayawardene, 48.6 ov), 7-114 (Herath, 50.1 ov), 8-168 (Lakmal, 64.2 ov), 9-193 (Welegedara, 72.2 ov), 10-197 (Fernando, 74.1 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	Umar Gul	11	1	37	2	3.36	(3nb)
	Aizaz Cheema	15	5	51	1	3.40	(1nb)
	Mohammad Hafeez	9	3	12	0	1.33
	Junaid Khan	14.1	3	38	5	2.68	(1nb, 1w)
	Saeed Ajmal	25	5	56	2	2.24

	Pakistan 1st innings		R	B	4s	6s	SR
	Mohammad Hafeez	lbw b Herath	75	127	8	1	59.05
	Taufeeq Umar	not out	109	296	8	0	36.82
	Azhar Ali	not out	60	176	5	0	34.09
	Extras	(b 3, nb 12)	15
	Total	(1 wicket; 98 overs)	259	(2.64 runs per over)

To bat Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq*, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal†, Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan

Fall of wickets1-118 (Mohammad Hafeez, 38.3 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	UWMBCA Welegedara	16	1	56	0	3.50	(7nb)
	RAS Lakmal	13	3	58	0	4.46	(2nb)
	HMRKB Herath	35	10	55	1	1.57
	ANPR Fernando	15	0	57	0	3.80	(2nb)
	TM Dilshan	19	6	30	0	1.57

Match details

Toss Pakistan, who chose to field

Test debut ANPR Fernando (Sri Lanka) Player of the match tba

Umpires AL Hill (New Zealand) and RJ Tucker (Australia) TV umpire Ahsan Raza (Pakistan) Match referee DC Boon (Australia) Reserve umpire Shozab Raza (Pakistan)

Close of play day 1 - Pakistan 1st innings 27/0 (Mohammad Hafeez 17*, Taufeeq Umar 8*, 8 ov) day 2 - Pakistan 1st innings 259/1 (Taufeeq Umar 109*, Azhar Ali 60*, 98 ov)