Dodgy half century by Jayasuriya against PCB XI

Islamabad, Feb 21: A dodgy half century by skipper Sanath Jayasuriya helped Sri Lanka recover from early setbacks against a spirited Pakistan Cricket Board XI on a rain-effected opening day of the three-day match at the KRL Stadium on Monday.

Jayasuriya scored 60 as Sri Lanka reached 162 for five when bad light forced an early closure with 12 overs still to be bowled.

Former captain Arjuna Ranatunga (19) and wicket-keeper Romesh Kaluwitharana (8) will resume Sri Lanka's first innings on Tuesday morning. The play will start 30 minutes early to recover some of the lost time.

In the morning, the start of the proceedings were delayed by 155 minutes because of overnight rain. The play was halted again at 2:00pm when Jayasuriya complained of a dangerous spot in the middle of the pitch. An early tea was taken but 25 minutes were lost as the groundsmen used heavy roller to dry the patch.

Jayasuriya was first dropped by Younis Khan at 7 and then he was let off again at 25 when Wajahatullah Wasti and Rashid Latif made a mess of what appeared a regulation catch because of atrocious calling. The sufferer on both the occasions was promising fast bowler Irfan Fazil who produced a fiery first spell only to be let down by the fielders who showed greasy palms.

Jayasuriya's innings finally ended when leg-spinner Shafiq Ahmad had the left-hander caught at point by Irfan Fazil. The Sri Lankan captain's 60 was studded with 10 boundaries. He faced 78 balls.

Jayasuriya was involved in an innings building 78-run fourth wicket partnership with Mahela Jayawardena after the tourists had slumped to 48 for three after electing to bat first.

Jayawardena departed after scoring a sedate 39 off 79 balls when Irfan Fazil brought off a spectacular reflex action catch of his own bowling. Jayawardena hit seven boundaries.

Test pacer Mohammad Akram provided the first break through at the total of 20 when Taufiq Umer caught Russel Arnold (11) who mistimed shot.

Sri Lanka then lost two quick wickets soon after play resumed following an early tea. Irfan Fazil caught Tillekeratne Dilshan (5) in front of the wickets when the total was 46 and two runs later a rising deliveryfrom Mohammad Akram took Aravinda de Silva (1) by surprise as found the outside edge of the bat to be caught by Wasti at first slip.

De Silva would be regretting to lose an opportunity to get some practice prior to the first Test commencing at Rawalpindi from Feb 26.

Both de Silva and Ranatunga are on a comeback trail after having missed the Zimbabwe tour. However, Jayasuriya and Jayawardena repaired the damage with a a 78-run partnership. Both played exciting strokes but it were their pull shots that were highly applauded by a sizable crowd present at the stadium. The left and right combination also baffled the hosts who went into the match with one bowler short.

Before the start of the match, the home team went through a change in their line-up when off-spinner Shoaib Malik was replaced withall-rounder Taimoor Khan of Allied Bank. Shoaib withdrew when he developed pain in his bowling shoulder during warm-up.

The islanders, who have done nothing wrong in the tour so far, rested their in-form players Marvan Atapattu, Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas.

Earlier in the day, Sri Lankan skipper Sanath Jayasuriya inaugurated the new pavilion at the KRL Stadium in a simple ceremony.