Galle: After an excellent five-for (5/47) from Ramesh Mendis, batters made some handy contributions and put Sri Lanka in the driver's seat against Pakistan at the end of a curtailed third day of the second Test at Galle International Stadium, here on Tuesday. Sri Lanka were 176/5 in their second innings, leading Pakistan by 323 runs at stumps on Day 3 with Dimuth Karunaratne (27) and Dhananjaya de Silva (30) unbeaten on crease.
Resuming the day on 191 for 7, Yasir Shah and Hasan Ali did put up a resistance in the morning, but once the stand was broken, Sri Lanka cleaned up the Pakistan tail relatively quickly. The pair established a 32-run stand, which was ended by Prabath Jayasuriya, who bowled Ali for 21. Nauman Ali was the next to walk, getting stumped off the bowling of Ramesh Mendis for 1. Mendis then got his fifth wicket, trapping Yasir for 26, as Pakistan's innings ended on 231, with the hosts taking a 147-run lead.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 378 (Dinesh Chandimal 80, Niroshan Dickwella 51; Naseem Shah 3-58, Yasir Shah 3-83) & 176/5 (Angelo Mathews 35, Dhananjaya de Silva 30 not out; Naseem Shah 2-29) lead Pakistan 231 (Agha Salman 62, Imam ul Haq 32; Ramesh Mendis 5-47, Prabath jayasuriya 3-80) by 323 runs.
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