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Dhananjaya de Silva and skipper Kusal Mendis blasted unbeaten centuries to put Sri Lanka in commanding position against Pakistan on the third day of their first Test at the Pindi Stadium in Rawalpindi on Wednesday.
De Silva (167 not out) and Mendis (117 not out) put together 249 runs for the fifth wicket unbroken stand to enable Sri Lanka reach 404-4 in 102 overs in their first innings as bad light hastened the stumps. They still trail by 30 runs with six wickets in hand.
The pair can breake the highest fifth-wicket stand on the fourth day as they are on the brink of achieving that milestone.
The highest 280-run fifth-wicket stand had been shared by Thilan Samaraweera and Tilakaratne Dilshan against Bangladesh in Colombo on September 20, 2005.
De Silva, who completed his 14th Test century off 151 balls and brought in his 150 off 216 deliveries, smashed 20 fours in his marathon knock.
De Silva faced 241 balls in his fine innings which was full of patience. He waited for a loose delivery to be dispatched towards the boundary.
Mendis, on the other hand, brought in his 11th Test century off 152 balls, smashing ten fours and four sixes. He faced 188 balls.
Mohammad Abbas was the only successful bowler on the third day as he removed Kamindu to finish the day with 2-64.
Saqib Khan, who had taken two early wickets on Tuesday, ended the day at 2-105 in 26 overs.
Young pacer Razaullah conceded 127 runs in 23 overs and was the most expensive bowler.
Pakistan also utilized spinners Arafat Minhas and Salman Ali Agha but they also did not trouble Sri Lankan batsman.
Resuming their first innings at 114-3 in reply to Pakistan’s 434-9 declared, Sri Lanka did well to put the hosts under pressure.
Abbas provided breakthrough in the first session when he had Kamindu Mendis, who edged it to keeper Ghazi Ghori. Mendis, who hit eight fours in his 58, shared 90 runs for the fourth wicket stand with Dhananjaya de Silva.
On Tuesday Sri Lanka had lost two early wickets after beginning their reply, with Pasindu Sooriyabandara dismissed for a duck and Dinesh Chandimal falling for one. Lahiru Udara contributed 42.
Pakistan had declared their first innings at 434-9, built around fine contributions from Saud Shakeel (93), Tayyab Arif (57), Arafat Minhas (52), Mohammad Taha (51 and captain Babar Azam (50).
“Its test cricket beauty and we made effort and they also were beaten several times but I will credit both the experienced batsmen who batted well,” Pakistan’s pacer Mohammad Abbas told a post-day press conference.
“It’s a good pitch and is backing both bowlers and batsmen. If you bowl at the right area you get support but they batted well,” he said.
“We will try to get some early wickets in the morning and if we do this it will help us,” Abbas said.
