When Prasanna Jayawardene began the fifth day by batting in high gear, it raised the hope of an early Sri Lankan declaration, a harder survival challenge for Pakistan, and an interesting finish to a Test that has cried out for more enterprise from its contestants. Sri Lanka, however, were extremely conservative in protecting their 1-0 lead in the series and batted until they were dismissed during an extended first session. With 59 overs left in the day, Pakistan's chances of drawing the series had disappeared, and Sri Lanka's prospects of taking it 2-0 had reduced.
The day had begun with a chant previously unheard during the course of this Test series. A contingent of school children were in attendance and they cheered, "Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka" at a volume that belied their numbers. Prasanna played to his audience, cutting, driving and slog-sweeping Saeed Ajmal out of the attack, while slashing and driving Mohammad Talha to the boundary at the other end. Misbah-ul-Haq replaced Ajmal with Abdur Rehman to exert control over the run-rate, but Prasanna cut and dabbed him too behind point.
Angelo Mathews, however, continued his stonewalling. He was lucky to survive an umpire's call lbw decision before he had added to his overnight 14, and blocked while Prasanna cut loose. When he finally decided to attack, his target was Talha. Mathews lofted the second new-ball over cover and then top-edged a hook over the keeper off successive deliveries. He tried to improve his execution of the hook the next ball, but holed out to deep square leg.
Sri Lanka's slowdown began soon after, as Rehman began to run through the lower order. He had Dilruwan Perera caught at short leg and Rangana Herath, who became the first Sri Lankan to bag a king pair in Tests, edging to slip off successive balls. Prasanna stopped trying to score and simply batted time, until his dismissal on 49 forced lunch to be delayed by half an hour, during which Ajmal brought an end to the innings.
Sri Lanka had scored 62 runs in the first 14 overs of the day, but then added only 19 in the next 16.4 overs. The children had long since stopped cheering.
George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
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