Sri Lanka-104/3 At Lunch

Saturday, July 4, 2009 at 1:58 pm

GALLE: Sri Lanka opener Tharanga Paranavitana scored an unbeaten 57 to help Sri Lanka recover from a poor start and reach lunch on 104-3 on the first day of the opening test against Pakistan on Saturday.

Paranavitana’s maiden test fifty rescued the hosts after Pakistan’s 17-year-old pace bowler Mohammad Aamer struck twice on debut to leave Sri Lanka reeling on 21-2 in the early stages of the three-match series.

The 27-year-old left-hander, who faced 72 balls and hit nine boundaries in a positive innings, added 75 runs for the third wicket with former captain Mahela Jayawardene (30).

However, just before the lunch interval, Pakistan struck their third blow of the morning with Abdur Rauf, one of three Pakistan debutants in a new-look team, finding Jayawardene’s outside edge for a simple catch behind.

Jayawardene’s dismissal would have provided relief for wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, who had earlier dropped the right-hander before he had scored.

Aamer was the pick of the Pakistani bowlers, finishing his first session in test cricket with 2-28 from seven overs.

The paceman started the day well for the tourists, bowling Malinda Warnapura (2) with a big inswinger and then finding the outside edge of skipper Kumar Sangakkara (9).

Earlier, Sri Lanka selected left-arm spinner Rangana Herath in place of spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who pulled out of the game with a knee injury, and all rounder Angelo Mathews was called up to make his test debut.

Sri Lanka-104/3 At Lunch

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