Umar’s maiden 200 puts Pakistan on top

Taufeeq Umar

(Reuters) – Taufeeq Umar hit his maiden test double  century as Pakistan turned the screw on Sri Lanka on the third  day of the first test in Abu Dhabi yesterday.   

Sri Lanka were 47 for one at the close, still trailing  Pakistan by 267 runs with former captain Kumar Sangakkara (27)  and opener Lahiru Thirimanne (20) at the crease.  
 

Taufeeq Umar

Umar Gul rounded off a superb day for Pakistan by dismissing  Tharanga Paranavitana lbw with the first delivery of the  innings.   

Resuming on his overnight score of 109, the 30-year old  Umar, whose previous highest in test matches was 135, added 160  for the second wicket with Azhar Ali and continued his patient  approach to accumulating runs.   

He got past the 200-run mark with a pulled four to the  mid-wicket boundary off paceman Suranga Lakmal.   
The left-handed opener hit 17 boundaries and a six during  his 496-ball stay at the crease before he was run out on 236.   

He added 82 for the third wicket with Younis Khan (33), 76  with captain Misbah-ul Haq (46) for the fourth and another 75  with Asad Shafiq (26) for the fifth wicket.  
 
Pakistan declared soon after on 511 for six, asking Sri  Lanka to bat for the remaining 11 overs in the day.   
Left-arm seamer Chanaka Welegedara bowled a testing spell in  the morning and beat Ali for pace to rattle his off-stump in the  seventh over of the day, which turned out to be Sri Lanka’s only  success in the morning session.   

Welegedara also trapped Younis lbw with a ball that  straightened a bit after pitching.   
Misbah fell to the left-arm spin of Rangana Herath, who  finished with three for 126, and was caught behind trying to  increase Pakistan’s scoring rate.   

Pakistan play home tests in the Gulf region because of  security fears in their own country. The game is the first in a  three-match series.      
Scoreboard

Sri Lanka first innings 197 &   
Second innings  
T. Paranavitana lbw b Gul                            0 
L. Thirimanne not out                                 20    
K. Sangakkara not out                                 27    
Total (for one wicket; 11 overs)              47
To bat: M. Jayawardene,
T. Dilshan, A. Mathews, P.  Jayawardene, R. Herath, S. Lakmal, C. Welegedara, N. Pradeep   
Fall of wicket: 1-0    
Bowling: Gul 4-0-16-1, Cheema 5-0-18-0, Ajmal 1-0-4-0, J.  Khan 1-0-9-0    
    
Pakistan first innings (overnight 259-1)   
M. Hafeez lbw b Herath                                              75  
T. Umar run out                                                          236   
A. Ali b Welegedara                                                     70   
Y. Khan lbw b Welegedara                                       33  
Misbah-ul Haq c P. Jayawardene b Herath      46  
A. Shafiq not out                                                         26   
U. Gul c Mathews b Herath                                       0 
Extras (b-3, lb-3, w-3, nb-16)                             25
Total (for six wickets dec.; 174.4 overs)      511   
Did not bat: A. Akmal, A. Cheema, S. Ajmal, J. Khan   

Fall of wickets: 1-118 2-278 3-360 4-436 5-511 6-511   
Bowling: Welegedara 30-5-80-2 (8nb), Lakmal 24-3-108-0  (2nb), Herath 61.4-16-126-3, Pradeep 27-1-107-0 (5nb, 1w),  Dilshan 32-6-84-0 (2w)