Thanks to Abid Ali and Shan Masood daddy centuries, Pakistan are in a commanding position at the end of day 3 played at National Stadium, Karachi on Saturday.
Starting on the overnight score of 57 for 0, Shan Masood and Abid Ali played with aggressive approach against Sri Lankan bowlers. It was an amazing batting display by both Pakistani batsmen who kept the score card ticking. Abid reached his fifty off 70 balls and continued to pile pressure on Sri Lankan bowlers. Masood also completed his half-century off 85 balls which made life tough for the visitors. At lunch, Pakistan scored 175 for 0.
After the lunch break, Abid Ali impressed with his defensive technique and made the batting look easy and reached his century off just 137 balls. Shan Masood attacked the Sri Lankan spinners stepping down the track. The left-handed Masood completed well deserved century off 148 balls. Abid and Shan toyed with Sri Lankan bowling line up. It was an amazing batting display by Pakistani openers. At the stroke of tea break, Lahiru Kumara got the breakthrough dismissing Shan Masood for a brilliant 135 . Shan and Abid Ali added 278 runs for the opening wicket. At tea break, Pakistan were 282 for 1.
The third session saw Abid Ali continued his aggressive approach and reached his 150 off 242 balls. Sri Lanka took the 2nd new ball after the 80th over. Azhar Ali looked confident with his stroke play after some time. Lahiru Kumara got his 2nd wicket of the innings dismissing Abid Ali for a brilliant 174 off 281 balls. Abid and Azhar Ali added 77 runs for the 2nd wicket. Ali reached his first fifty after 14 innings off 82 balls. Babar Azam came to the crease and made the batting look easy. At the end of day 3, Pakistan scored 395 for 2 with a lead of 315 runs.
Lahiru Kumara was the only Sri Lankan bowler who bowled well and also took 2 Pakistan wickets. Vishwa Fernando, Lasith Embdulenya and Dilwuran Perera went for runs which did not give control for the Sri Lankan captain.
Pakistan 191 in 59.3 overs ( Asad Shafiq 63, Babar Azam 60, Lahiru Kumara 4/49, Lasith Embuldenya 4/71) and 395 for 2 in 104 overs ( Abid Ali 174, Shan Masood 135, Azhar Ali 57* , Lahiru Kumara 2/88) lead Sri Lanka 271 in 85.5 overs ( Dinesh Chandimal 74, Diluwran Perera 48, Dimuth Karunaratne 25, Mohammad Abbas 4/55, Shaheen Shah Afridi 5/77) by 315 runs
