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Defending champions Mumbai Indians are likely to miss out on the services of their strike bowler Lasith Malinga in IPL 2016 due to a knee injury

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Apr-20161:09

O’Brien: Mumbai would have made plans given Malinga’s injury struggles

Lasith Malinga, the Mumbai Indians pacer, is unlikely to feature in this year’s IPL due to a knee injury, Ricky Ponting, the head coach, said at the team’s inaugural press conference on Thursday. Despite the nature of Malinga’s injury, the team has decided to wait for the first five matches before deciding if they need to seek a replacement.’Impressed with Pollard’s fitness’

Kieron Pollard, who pulled out of the World T20 due to “lack of sufficient progress in his rehabilitative work” following a knee injury at the Ram Slam T20 in November 2015, has been deemed fit ahead of Mumbai Indians’ IPL opener against Rising Pune Supergiants on Saturday.
“He took part in our full training session on Wednesday, and will train today,” Ponting said. “Everyone knows about his knee injury. The physio and trainer are impressed with the amount of work he has put in and how fit he is at the moment.”

Malinga, the highest wicket-taker in IPL history, is the only player missing from Mumbai’s squad which has assembled gradually over the past week in Mumbai for a preparatory camp. “I believe he will be joining us after the first couple of games to have his fitness assessed,” Ponting said. “Right now it’s unlikely he will take part in the first half of the tournament anyway.”Ponting conceded while Malinga’s absence was a blow, the team management wasn’t fretting over it as the back-up bowlers were “more than capable” of stepping up in his absence.Tim Southee, the New Zealand pacer, and Marchant de Lange, the South Africa pacer, were couple of names Ponting suggested as potential replacements.”If we need a replacement, it will be have to be named ahead of the fifth game. At this stage you have to say it is unlikely (Malinga playing).””Malinga at his best has been one of the great performers in world cricket, both with new and old ball. He will be missed, but we have to think about who the best replacement will be. Will it be Marchant de Lange, will it be Tim Southee? Will we go in with three overseas batsmen? So there are headaches we have, which is a nice thing. If Malinga is ruled out, we have more than adequate replacement to fill his boots.”Since last November, Malinga has been trying to recover from the bone bruise in his left knee. Although he was the captain in the Asia Cup, Malinga played just one match, the solitary win for Sri Lanka where the fast bowler finished as Man-of-the-Match. Malinga then decided to stand down as the captain for the World Twenty20. Although he travelled to India for the tournament, a recurrence of the injury ahead of Sri Lanka’s opening game against Afghanistan ruled him out.He returned home immediately to start his rehab before the IPL.

Chelsea have been handed a potentially huge boost for their Carabao Cup final date against Liverpool, with Reece James back on grass.

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James nursing hamstring problemSidelined since DecemberBut hints at return to actionGetty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

The England defender has been sidelined since December with a hamstring injury, and has made just nine appearances all season in what has been another injury-hit campaign. But as Chelsea gear up for a final against Liverpool on February 25, James appears to be nearing a return to action. The Blues full-back hinted as much with an Instagram post on Thursday.

AdvertisementWHAT JAMES POSTEDIG: reeceGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Chelsea have suffered something of an injury crisis this term, with significant absentees ranging from summer signings Christopher Nkunku and Romeo Lavia to England full-back senior figure Ben Chilwell. But James' long-term absence has been a cause for concern at Stamford Bridge given the recurring nature of said hamstring issue – the 24-year-old missed a significant portion of last season with both hamstring and knee problems.

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WHAT NEXT?

Mauricio Pochettino and Chelsea fans will hope James' return isn't another false dawn, as any further setbacks would sadly raise questions over his long-term future in the game. The Blues can, at least, take some solace in having a worthy back-up in Malo Gasto at the club, with the Frenchman proving to be one of the unsung heroes of Chelsea's lavish spending under Todd Boehly.

Al-Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is “totally” Champions League level, even at 38 years of age, says Portugal boss Roberto Martinez.

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All-time great showing no sign of slowing downHit over 50 goals for club & country in 2023Evergreen forward intends to play on into his 40sWHAT HAPPENED?

The all-time great, who has five Ballon d’Or wins to his name, has been showing no sign of slowing down since leaving elite European football for a new adventure in Saudi Arabia. He plundered over 50 goals for club and country in 2023, with the evergreen frontman still the poster boy for longevity at the very highest level.

AdvertisementGettyWHAT MARTINEZ SAID ABOUT RONALDO

Martinez, who now works with Ronaldo in international football, has told when asked if CR7 – who remains the competition’s all-time leading goalscorer – could still cut it in the Champions League: “Totally. He’s incredible with his capacity to really reinvent himself. This is not the player we saw in the first spell at Manchester United, he’s not a wide player. Now he’s a finisher, someone that understands quality of movement in the box, and is an incredible threat. And experienced.”

Martinez added on what makes Ronaldo different from just about every other player on the planet: “Cristiano, first and foremost, is happy. What shocked me was how fresh he is with his approach in football: someone of 38 comes to training and wants to win every exercise, win every race and is the last one leaving.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Ronaldo is also a role model to the next generation, with Martinez saying of how a player with over 200 international caps to his name is helping to ensure that stars of tomorrow follow in his illustrious footsteps: “He always tries to give young players a lot of help. Nobody can help a young player better than a team-mate that’s got more than 200 games for the national team. I think the young players are in awe of Cristiano but when they start working with him it’s respect and then it’s just very competitive. The generation of Cristiano and Pepe, 40, set the standards of how the work should be should be done for a young player. It’s gold.”

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR RONALDO?

Ronaldo remains tied to a contract at Al-Nassr through to 2025 – and will soon be lining up against eternal rival Lionel Messi in a glamour friendly clash with Inter Miami – while he has stated a desire to play on through to the 2026 World Cup finals and into his 40s.

Pakistan registered their first series win in Sri Lanka in nine years through yet another ruthless performance

The Report by Sidharth Monga22-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
1:18

Series win in SL after nine years

For the third time in the series Pakistan denied those expecting drama and nerves and inexplicable events normally associated with Pakistan cricket. They first refused to let Sri Lanka get away despite a seemingly effortless 100-run second-wicket stand and dragged them down to 256, and then Ahmed Shehzad followed it with a ruthless chase of a target that could have been tricky on a dry turning surface. This was their first bilateral series win in Sri Lanka in nine years, and took them closer to Champions Trophy qualification.In fact even in the second match – the one that they lost – Pakistan were predictable and excellent. They just came up against individual brilliance of the Pakistani kind, and even after that record fastest fifty by Kusal Perera Pakistan fought to make sure it was not a cakewalk for Sri Lanka. There was no such out-of-the-world brilliance from Sri Lanka this time, but Pakistan retained that tenacity even though Lahiru Thirimanne and Tillakaratne Dilshan seemed in control scoring half-centuries after Perera fell for a duck. The fielders cut out the singles, the spinners choked supply of easy runs, the quicks struck to cash in on the pressure, and Sri Lanka went from 170 for 3 to score only 86 in the last 14 overs.As a comparison, in the next 14 overs there was enough evidence Pakistan were going to cruise through the chase. Sri Lanka finally went to using Lasith Malinga as an attacking option, but Azhar Ali and Shehzad took his first three overs for 20. When it seemed like pace on ball was flying, Sri Lanka went to spin only to see Shehzad jump out of the crease and belt Sachith Pathirana back over his head first ball for a six. Nuwan Pradeep injured himself, Suranga Lakmal looked ineffective, and already Malinga was back for a second spell. Malinga provided a breakthrough, but then had Shehzad edge through vacant slip and then through the hands of slip for successive fours. All in the first 14 overs.With his side 92 for 1 in the first 14, Mohammad Hafeez could now afford to take his time settling in. He also blunted out Malinga as he exhausted his nine overs in the first 20, looking desperately for a breakthrough. In Malinga’s ninth, Shehzad suggested it wouldn’t have made a difference had Malinga many more left in his bag. He whipped him for successive fours to reach 71, and Pakistan were now 116 for 1 in 20 overs.Let down by spinners, missing in-form attacking bowlers, Sri Lanka threw other options at Pakistan, but there were no batsmen willing to oblige those looking for what has in the last 10 or so years become inevitable drama with Pakistan matches. Shehzad and Hafeez batted with authority. While Hafeez accelerated from 7 off 24 to the eventual 70 off 88, Shehzad never really slowed down. The only regret for Pakistan will be that a rare moment of fielding brilliance – diving-forward catch by Perera at third man – from Sri Lanka resulted in Shehzad’s falling five short of a hundred.Fielding brilliance was plentiful when Pakistan were in the field. From the time left-arm spinner Imad Wasim, playing only his second match, combined an arm ball with low bounce to remove Dilshan at 109 for 2 in the 23rd over, the fielders and the spinners circled around Sri Lanka. Often six men stayed inside the circle, and the spinners ran through their overs, building pressure dot by dot. Between them the three spinners – Yasir Shah, Wasim and Shoaib Malik – conceded just 108 in 24 overs.The first victim of the pressure was Mathews. Shah had been negotiated well by Dilshan and Thirimanne, but Mathews found it tough to face Wasim and Malik. With no easy singles on offer, Pakistan kept daring Mathews to take the risk. Nineteen runs came in Mathews’ first 5.3 overs at the wicket, and when he looked to break the shackles he hit Rahat Ali – in his first over back – straight to mid-off.Dinesh Chandimal, seemingly thanks to instructions from the dressing room, sought to avoid a similar fate – Mathews scored 12 off 23 – and went on a hitting spree. He tried one ambitious shot too many, getting out to Mohammad Irfan for 20 off 21. Amid all this Thirimanne went on smoothly, driving and late-cutting his way towards a hundred. Now, though, with an inexperienced lower middle order with him Thirimanne had to make a decision: stay the anchorman and bat till the 50th over or hit a few shots to take some pressure off the youngsters.Thirimanne went for the latter. When he first tried the big sweep off Shah, he was dropped by Ahmed Shehzad at deep square leg, a catch he somehow went on to claim. An over later Thirmanne provided both Shah and Shehzad the redemption, trying another big sweep, mis-hitting it, and watching Shehzad fly to his left. An innings that had looked solid for a long time had slowly but surely disintegrated, setting Pakistan a target that would be hunted down with 9.1 overs to spare.

Neymar and Dybala lead our Champions League Team of the Round for matchday two after scoring hat-tricks for Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus

Roman Burki | GK | Borussia Dortmund

Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund carried their domestic form into Europe on Wednesday, crushing Ligue 1 outfit Monaco 3-0 at Westfalenstadion.

Burki made five saves during the tie, including a remarkable stop from a long-range Youri Tielemans strike, and was crucial to his side's shut-out.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesJoe Gomez | CB | Liverpool

Virgil van Dijk was singled out as the man to transform Liverpool's defensive problems and Anfield chiefs were forced to fork out £75 million at the start of the year. Over the last handful of fixtures, however, Joe Gomez has been the standout centre-back in Jurgen Klopp's backline.

The 21-year-old put in another impressive performance away at Napoli in a particularly spiky atmosphere, dampened slightly only by a 90th-minute winner from Lorenzo Insigne.

GettyLeonardo Bonucci | CB | Juventus

Since the start of the 2014-15 campaign, Juventus have kept 23 clean sheets in the Champions League – only Atletico Madrid have kept more in the competition during this period (24).

A major part of their success at the back on Tuesday during their 3-0 victory over Young Boys was the performance of Leonardo Bonucci. 

The Italian had 97 touches of the ball during the game and completed more passes than any other player on the pitch (83), while claiming the assist for Paulo Dybala's early strike.

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GettyMats Hummels | CB | Bayern Munich

Mats Hummels scored his second Champions League goal for Bayern Munich on Tuesday, another header from an Arjen Robben cross, as the Bundesliga title holders were held by Ajax.

The Germany international was the standout figure in the Bayern backline, completing 92 per cent of his passes – the most of any outfield player to play more than 45 minutes of the game.

The Dane was rejected by his boyhood club and sold off at a pittance, but quickly developed into one of the most feared strikers in Europe

Manchester United have a point to prove when they face Copenhagen on Tuesday, and so does Rasmus Hojlund. After making their worst-ever start to a Champions League group stage by losing to both Bayern Munich and Galatasaray, Erik ten Hag's side's future in Europe's elite competition is on the line.

Victory is a must if they want to stand a decent chance of staying in a competition in which they have barely made a dent since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement. And Hojlund could hold the key to getting those crucial three points.

The 20-year-old has made a flying start in the Champions League, scoring three goals in his first two games and doing his best Ruud van Nistelrooy impression against Galatasaray. Hojlund seems to come alive on the biggest stage, and he will be even more motivated on Tuesday as he comes face-to-face with his boyhood club, who broke his heart less than two years ago.

Getty Indirect route to Old Trafford

There are many ways to get to Manchester United, but Hojlund's is one of the strangest routes imaginable, the type you find right at the bottom of Skyscanner when searching for the cheapest flight possible. Copenhagen to Manchester, via Sturm Graz and Atalanta. Total price: €103m (£90m/$109m).

Copenhagen, however, saw just €1.75m of that when they sold their homegrown striker to Sturm Graz in January 2022 and must have been horrified to see him blossom into one of the top centre-forwards in Europe on his travels.

Hojlund, who is from the outskirts of the Danish capital, began his footballing education with local side HUI and a had a brief stint with Brondby before joining Copenhagen as a teenager. He made his first-team debut at the age of 17 in October 2020, ending the season with four appearances in the Danish Superliga.

He was given more opportunities in his second campaign, making 15 appearances, albeit only one start between July and January. He failed to score in the league but did manage to fill his boots in their Europa Conference League campaign, netting five times across 11 appearances, only one of which was a start.

AdvertisementGettyBlown away by Wind

Hojlund had his work cut out as he was competing with fellow Danish striker Jonas Wind, four years his senior, for Copenhagen's single centre-forward berth. Wind had scored 15 goals the previous campaign, and after a strong start to the season he was snapped up by Bundesliga side Wolfsburg for €12m (£10.5m/$12.7m) in January 2022.

Hojlund would have seemed a natural fit to take the baton from Wind as first-choice striker, but the club were not ready to put all their faith in the then-18-year-old and signed Senegal international Khouma Babacar instead on a free transfer from Sassuolo.

Envisaging more time on the bench, Hojlund left Copenhagen three days before the transfer window shut for Austrian side Sturm Graz.

Comparing himself to Haaland

Moving to Graz side felt like a sideways move at best, if not a step down, especially considering Hojlund's emotional ties with Copenhagen. But being snubbed by his boyhood club did not seem to affect his confidence. Indeed, when asked by his new employers what his playing style was like, he compared himself to Erling Haaland! He was thrown straight into the starting line-up for the next game at WSG Tirol and scored twice on his debut.

"Both in our club and in the media, people laughed or didn’t take it seriously, because he was only 18 and hadn’t really shown anything,’ coach Christian Ilzer told "But for me it showed how confident he was. After his first game, where he scored twice, all the journalists knew what he was talking about and saw that there are similarities, with their size, power and finishing ability.

"The pitch is a concert stage and he is a rock star that excites the crowd. He is naturally comfortable in the spotlight. That’s why he is made for the biggest stages."

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(C)GettyImages'An absolute machine'

Tirol defender Raffael Behounek was one of Hojlund's first victims and was left in awe after his debut. "He will be worth every penny," Behounek told . "He is an absolute machine. When he has space, he is very difficult to defend against."

Hojlund scored in his next two games for Sturm Graz and finished the season with six league goals. He was even more prolific at the start of his second season, notching three league goals and scoring in a Champions League qualifier against Dinamo Kyiv. Atalanta came in with a €17m ($18m) bid in August and the Austrians did not hesitate in cashing in.

"We were sure that he was a diamond that needed polishing. He had everything we were looking for in a striker," Ilzer added. "He surprised me in all aspects. His confidence and attitude for an 18-year-old was exceptional. Also his height, speed, finishing ability and presence in front of the goal was even better than expected. It was like he had been held back before. I wish I could have worked with him longer."

Mohamed Salah revealed that Micah Richards was his "driver" as they shared a "crazy" bromance during their time together at Fiorentina.

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Salah and Richards were on loan at FiorentinaBoth spent six months togetherForged an incredible bond of friendship WHAT HAPPENED?

Salah and Richards ended up in the Fiorentina dressing room after Chelsea and Manchester City deemed them surplus to their requirements and loaned them to the Serie A side. While Richards arrived on Italian shores in January 2015, the Egyptian forward joined him in the following winter. While Richards could manage just 19 appearances for La Viola, Salah ensured that he never had to walk alone and made the defender drive him to training and back home.

AdvertisementWATCH THE CLIPWHAT SALAH SAID ABOUT RICHARDS

During an interview with Salah said: "Oh my god, [Richards is] one of the craziest guys I've ever met. He's really such a nice guy.

"My family were in London and he was alone and we would always go for coffee. I didn't have a car, he picked me up always before training and after training to drop me home. He was my driver at the time!

"And we had such a nice time. He pretended his Italian was better but everybody knows it was not! But he's such a great guy and we were very close and we just stayed in touch."

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Getty ImagesWHAT RICHARDS SAID ABOUT THE INCIDENT

Salah was sent off to Fiorentina by a disgruntled Jose Mourinho after the forward could score just two goals in 19 games for Chelsea. But the duo enjoyed their time in Florence and Richards admitted that he was shocked when Chelsea sold him off.

"We were in Florence, a beautiful city. He was like 'Can you pick me up in the morning?' and I said 'Yeah no problem at all' thinking his car was going to arrive two weeks later. I picked him up every day for six months!" the Sky Sports pundit said.

"But honestly, I know people talk about him as a player, wonderful player, exceptional, world class. But as a guy he is amazing. He's so humble, he's so driven, he's so passionate. He even said to me when we were at Fiorentina 'One day I'm going to be one of the best forwards in the world'. And he's stayed true to his word. That's the belief that he has in his own ability. I couldn't believe we at Fiorentina had him, I couldn't believe Chelsea let him go."

Lea Schuller made the difference as Germany secured a place at the Olympic women's football tournament in a 2-0 win over the Netherlands on Wednesday.

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Germany secure Olympic qualificationBeat the Netherlands 2-0 to do soHalf-time sub Schuller the game-changer GettyTELL ME MORE

Chances were at a premium in what was far from a classic encounter, but it was Germany who regularly came closest in this Women's Nations League third-place play-off, with the winner to secure a place at the Olympics. Chelsea star Sjoeke Nusken thought she'd given the visitors the lead in Heerenveen midway through the first half, only to see her well-hit effort bounce off the inside of the post and back out, while Alexandra Popp's header would've certainly broken the deadlock just before the break had she directed it anywhere other than right at Daphne van Domselaar.

Then Germany made a change at the break that paid dividends. Those came almost immediately, too, but for the offside flag to deny half-time sub Lea Schuller a quick goal. The Bayern Munich striker made Germany much more dangerous going forward as they peppered Van Domselaar's goal, both her and Nusken bringing the best out of the Aston Villa shot-stopper. However, she had no chance with Klara Buhl's emphatic finish just past the hour and Lena Oberdorf deserves a lot of credit for the way she kept the ball alive in the box, too.

Lineth Beerensteyn constantly looked like the Netherlands' best bet at getting on the scoresheet with her quick runs in behind but the most notable look at goal she got was just before Germany's opener, a driving run ending with a shot that was easy for Merle Frohms to hold. Instead, Schuller made sure of the result with a deserved goal 12 minutes from time, Van Domselaar only able to watch as her header nestled in the corner to seal third-place in the Nations League for Germany and, with it, a spot at the Olympic women's football tournament this summer.

AdvertisementDID YOU KNOW?

This was always going to be a difficult ask for the Netherlands. The Dutch lost a key player in January when Jill Roord suffered a devastating ACL injury while with her club, Manchester City, and two more were absent on Wednesday after the Arsenal duo of Vivianne Miedema and Victoria Pelova returned to London for reasons that are thus far unspecified.

The 2017 European champions have made impressive progress under Andries Jonker but qualifying for this summer's Olympics just proved to be too much of an ask at this moment.

GettyTHE MVP

Who else but Schuller? Germany lacked a focal point until her introduction, with Popp so often dropping deep to defend and then needing to get all the way back up the pitch to be there for the attack. Schuller's presence meant that there was always someone keeping the Dutch defence busy, though, and she was lively in her play, too, as Germany created chances aplenty to win the game.

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GettyTHE BIG LOSER

Van Domselaar deserved a clean sheet for her performance on Wednesday, really. The Aston Villa star made some truly fantastic saves, most notably to deny Nusken just after the break and then, a few minutes later, to get a glove on the ball as Schuller raced into the box. But with the Netherlands struggling to get out and unable to stifle Germany's second half performance, it was inevitable that she was beaten.

Marvan Atapattu, Sri Lanka’s interim coach, has backed his team to come out firing in the second one-day international against England as they attempt to level the series

Sa'adi Thawfeeq24-May-2014Marvan Atapattu, Sri Lanka’s interim coach, has backed his team to come out firing in the second one-day international against England as they attempt to level the series.They lost by 81 runs in a truncated match at The Oval and the forecast suggests weather may have a say on Sunday as well, but regardless of the duration of the contest Atapattu believes the early setback could bring out the best in Sri Lanka.”History will tell you that if these guys are pushed to the wall they come out with all big guns blazing.” Atapattu said. “Even in that World T20 game against New Zealand where we had to win, the way that we played showed the character of the team. They play with a lot of pride each one comes with a big reputation that helps the team spirit. We derive the results that we want to have. Those kinds of things drive the team forward.”The loss at The Oval was Sri Lanka’s first ODI defeat for the year after a run of nine consecutive wins. Angelo Mathews pulled no punches after the match, assessing it as a poor performance throughout, and Atapattu sounded a similar note.”Our execution on the field was nowhere close to our best. We are a good team that finishes innings which is one of our strengths. It was one of those days when our bowling didn’t come right we must make sure it does not happen again,” he said. “We have been doing so well in the two shorter formats been brilliant on the field and batted well which have been our strong points, but on Thursday it was a different scenario.”The two areas where Sri Lanka lost significantly were during the Chris Jordan blitz when he blasted 38 runs off 13 balls and when they lost Tillakaratne Dilshan soon after the final break for rain which reduced the chase to 32 overs.”They batted extremely well and for Jordan to get 38 off 13 balls was remarkable. He got the measure of the two bowlers [Malinga and Kulasekara],” Atapattu said. “We shouldn’t forget that although it was a 50-over game it ended up as a 32-over affair. In shorter games this could happen. If somebody has a good day the game could shift very soon within a few minutes. The momentum shifted towards England.”Losing Dilshan at a crucial juncture straight after the break for rain was the other setback. Dilshan and Mahela were going really well at the time when rain disrupted play. Then straight after the break Dilshan got out caught at third man. If he had gone a bit longer, another eight to ten overs, we would have had a good platform to launch. We missed that.”

Rangana Herath tripped up Pakistan’s middle order and picked up his 20th five-wicket haul to put Sri Lanka on top

The Report by Devashish Fuloria15-Aug-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsPakistan scored at brisk pace but lost wickets at key moments•Associated PressThere is a reason why the SSC pitch is notorious for its reputation as the graveyard for bowlers. In the last five years and through the course of five matches, batsmen have collected 30 scores – 14 centuries and 16 fifties – of 50 or more in the innings. The pitch that was laid for this Test, Mahela Jayawardene’s last, was no different. However, 16 wickets went down and only three batsmen were able to put up significant runs in the first two days here.Whereas the failure of the Sri Lankan batting on the first day was triggered mostly by disciplined bowling from the Pakistan seamers, Pakistan found themselves in familiar strife due to a mix of some unlucky dismissals and a few inevitable rippers from Rangana Herath.After a confident start, led by a half-century from Ahmed Shehzad, Pakistan’s middle order stumbled again. The slide was briefly arrested by an enterprising 93-run sixth-wicket stand between Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz Ahmed. The pitch, as the two showed, was still good for batting. But by the end of the day, that stand was broken and Herath had yet another five-wicket haul – his 20th in Tests.Khurram Manzoor was caught behind off Herath in the last over before lunch for 23. Azhar Ali used his feet smartly against the spinners and was playing solidly till he mistimed an attempted drive through off to midwicket to be dismissed for 32. Shehzad, who had 20 runs to show for his outing in Galle, was caught down the leg side off Dilruwan Perera in the penultimate over before tea, after scoring an aggressive 58 that had led Pakistan past 100 at a scoring rate well over three an over.Then came the two big strikes soon after tea, the first of which was solely due to some excellent presence of mind from Kaushal Silva. Younis Khan defended Herath down on the pitch only to see the ball bounce off his boot. An alert Silva at silly point dived forward and slid his hand low, grabbed the ball one-handed, but realising he was not going to be able to control it, he parried it to the wicketkeeper for a simple chance. Younis didn’t spot it, but the third umpire did, cutting his innings short on 13.Misbah didn’t have a chance against a flighted delivery from Herath that lured him forward and turned sharply to take the outside edge. It was the bowler’s 250th Test wicket. From 110 for 1, Pakistan were down to 140 for 5. This, after the team had their best start in three innings. The openers added 47 in 8.4 overs and the second-wicket pair remained largely untroubled during their 63-run stand.Pakistan were 180 short of Sri Lanka’s total at that stage but the scoreboard pressure hardly made an impression on Sarfraz. Coming on the back of two fifties in Galle, Sarfraz was light-footed against the spinners and was always on the lookout for runs. He often employed the sweep, sometimes made room by moving towards leg stump and was comfortable playing the late cut to rotate the strike. The fifty of his stand with Shafiq took 63 balls. He remained the aggressor while Shafiq held the other end, scoring just two boundaries in his 42. Shafiq was however beaten by an arm-ball from Herath ten minutes before the close of play.The start to the innings had been positive though. Manzoor drove Dhammika Prasad for consecutive boundaries in the first over and Shehzad bettered it with a hat-trick of boundaries off Chanaka Welegedara. Herath, who came in as early as the fifth over, made the breakthrough in the last over before lunch as he found turn to kiss the outside edge of Manzoor’s bat.Shehzad, however, continued playing with positivity, frequently using the sweep to unsettle Herath, whose first spell read 8-2-32-1. He went on to complete his second Test half-century in 68 balls but continuing with the theme of the match, he was dismissed after looking set.Pakistan’s batting took the sheen off Junaid Khan’s effort that had helped them roll Sri Lanka out for 320. Junaid’s unrelenting perseverance fetched him his fifth five-wicket haul, all of which have come against Sri Lanka, but the home team would have been satisfied with their tail’s effort.The last two wickets ate up more than an hour in the morning and added 59 runs, taking Sri Lanka past 300. Herath was the last batsman to be dismissed as he edged one off Abdur Rehman to slip where Younis took his 100th catch – the first Pakistan fielder to reach the figure.