T2 Days 1&2: SL Celebrate Another Run Fest

There is no telling what the Pakistan dressing room is thinking at the moment. Pakistan’s skipper, Younis Khan, would be wondering if he had indeed made the right decision after Sri Lanka used the opportunity to bat first by raising another relatively monumental total with the promise that even if another Test goes without result, they will have yet put their best foot forward.
The runs and the misery piled on not only for the Pakistan cricket team but also, for the PCB who are facing music over the placid pitch prepared for the first Test in Karachi. Sri Lanka hardly looked back after Pakistan put them to bat first on what turned out to be another batting paradise.
After losing two wickets early for thirty-five runs, Sri Lanka found the powerhouse in their batting first from a brief partnership between Kumar Sangakkara and skipper Mahela Jayawardene and later through tremendous innings from Sangakkara himself, Thilan Samaraweera and Tillkeratne Dilshan to take Sri Lanka to a formidable first innings total of 606.
Sangakkara himself made a century but he was not wrong in attributing Samaraweera as the best talent on show for his second double century in two Tests in this series. Samaraweera was not only a good partner to Sangakkara as Sri Lanka rebuilt on the early losses but also, proved to be a colossal thorn in the flesh for Pakistan himself. After his century, there was little doubt he was hungry for more and the experience of having made a double century in Karachi would have only bolstered his confidence to repeat the feat.
If Sangakkara departed after a well made century, Samaraweera found another stronghold in Dilshan. Dilshan himself enjoyed batting against a rather lackluster, tired looking Pakistan bowling, and utilized the opportunity for a fine 145, a terrific blow when Pakistan would have been looking for respite after the dismissal of Samaraweera for 214 in a run out decision.
Almost forgotten was the fact that Umar Gul, who dismissed both the openers early yesterday morning which appears eons ago, had actually picked up an innings tally of six wickets, in an otherwise bleak bowling scorecard.
What the three centuries, Dilshan’s 145 included, did was to challenge Pakistan to do what Younis Khan did in Karachi, thwart the possibility of a follow with a triple century. But is Younis in the same mind frame of Samaraweera and in a mood for doubling his fortunes? Surely, Pakistan needs more than one hungry skipper to beat this Sri Lankan challenge.