Younis leads Pakistan fightback against Sri Lanka

SHARJAH: A Younis Khan century steered his team closer to Sri Lanka's first innings total as Pakistan reached 199 for three at tea on the third day of the third and final Test in neutral Sharjah on Saturday.

Put on the back foot for a majority of the first two days, Pakistan still trail Sri Lanka by 214 runs but Younis (100 not out), with the help of Azhar Ali (53) and Misbah-ul-Haq (16 not out), got Pakistan back into the match after resuming on 35-2.

Younis, who scored his first run off the 31st delivery he faced, brought up his 18th test century when he drove Chanaka Welegedara into the covers for a single in the last over before the interval.

Younis and Ali batted cautiously at the start, with the first run in their partnership coming after more than 50 balls, but started scoring freely as they spent longer at the crease.

The pair added 98 for the third wicket before Ali became Kosala Kulasekara's first Test victim when the nippy right-armer got one to angle back sharply into the Pakistan batsman's stumps.

Captain Misbah then came to the crease and looked untroubled, scoring his runs patiently from 72 deliveries.

Sri Lanka, trailing the three match series 1-0, were dealt a blow to their bowling attack when paceman Dhammika Prasad was ruled out from the remainder of the test with a thigh strain.

Left-arm seamer Welegedara managed to trouble the batsmen on a few occasions but the Sri Lankan spinners failed to extract any purchase out of the wicket, making it easier for the batsmen to score.

Pakistan, who won the second test by nine wickets, are playing "home" Tests in the Gulf region due to security concerns in their own country. (Reuters)