Misbah rues first innings collapse in drawn Test

ABU DHABI: Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq rued the late order collapse in the first innings as Sri Lanka came from behind on the last two days to force Pakistan to settle for a draw in the first Test on Saturday.

Pakistan were motoring along well at 327-4 after dismissing Sri Lanka for 204 before losing their last six wickets for just 56 runs on the third day to be bowled out for 383.

"We should have got 450 runs on board to put pressure on the opposition," Misbah said. "We were batting well at one stage and instantly got all out, so this is one area which is not justified."

Angelo Mathews led Sri Lanka´s strong fightback with a career-best 157 not out in 7 1/2 hours before declaring at 480-5 to set Pakistan a target of 302 in 67 overs.

Pakistan settled for a draw and ended up at 158-2 as Ahmed Shehzad (55) was trapped leg before wicket by Rangana Herath soon after tea.

Misbah said Pakistan had thought about going for the victory if Shehzad had pushed the scoring rate with Mohammad Hafeez, who remained unbeaten on 80 — his first half century after 11 Test innings.

"If we had reached around of 170-180, then we could have pushed onward, but when Ahmed Shehzad got out then we thought we should go for the draw," he said.

Pakistan was also one batter short in the second innings after wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal fractured his left index finger on the third day and was ruled out for the remaining two Test matches of the series.

Misbah (135) and Younis Khan (136) featured in a double century stand by scoring big hundreds in Pakistan´s first innings which earned them a lead of 179 runs.

And Sri Lanka had their backs against the wall on the third day when they were just seven runs ahead and lost their batting mainstay of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene to finish at 186-4.

But Mathews and his deputy Dinesh Chandimal (89) defied Pakistan for nearly one and a half sessions on the fourth day to quash Pakistan hopes of forcing a result in their favor.

Mathews featured in another century stand with wicketkeeper-batsman Prasanna Jayawardene (63 not out) to stretch their lead on the last day before the declaration came half an hour before lunch.

"This is how team fights back," Misbah said of Mathews and Chandimal´s match-saving century stand on the fourth day. "They fought hard and batted well and I think this test match ends up even-steven."

Pakistan´s ace offspinner Saeed Ajmal had a forgetful Test match as he conceded 115 runs in his wicket-less 49 overs in the second innings.
"Spinners didn´t play their part on the sort of pitch we had here and that´s a setback for both teams," Misbah said. (AP)