FOLLOWING a much-needed solid start to their innings here on Friday evening, Pakistan not only managed to get past the follow on target with ease on Saturday but also in the end appeared well in control to pile up a decent score in reply to match Sri Lanka’s first innings score of 419 to keep their chances alive of forcing a result on a pitch showing variable bounce now.

So far, by the end of the third day, the pattern of this game had remained very similar to the first two days as the bowlers toiled and the batsmen relied on the occupation of the crease instead of going after the bowling on a slow-paced track which seldom allowed a fluent strokeplay for the batsmen.

The two Pakistan openers Shan Masood and Sami Aslam got to be given the credit for seeing off the danger periods in the first session of the third day’s play to share a valuable 114-run stand to launch Pakistan’s innings towards a sizeable score.

Though both have contrasting techniques and styles, they have the gift of patience which is key for any opening batsman.

In the process the two did show good temperament to play pace or spin without much fuss, grabbing opportunities at times to strike loose deliveries to the fence even when an experienced campaigner like Rangana Herath tried his best to entice them into playing false strokes.

I must say too that both the batsmen on occasions were lucky when beaten off the pitch and the Sri Lankans sought a review. To me it looked that the umpires committed more mistakes than the players who asked for a DRS. A number of decisions were reversed, almost all given by Nigel Long.

Long has been long on the circuit and is known to be a reliable umpire. However, he did falter a couple of times and he is not the only one to do that in this match so far.

The openers’ good work was cashed upon by Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq who between them put on 79 for the third wicket to remind the Sri Lankan captain Dinesh Chandimal that Pakistan batting is not going to melt away without a fight.

In the process Azhar achieved the distinction of reaching the landmark of 5,000 runs in his 61th Test. After the elegant Zaheer Abbas, who was the first to reach 5,000 runs for Pakistan, there have been fine players like Javed Miandad, Younis Khan, Salim Malik, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf who reached the landmark and went beyond. Azhar has joined the league which surely would have given him a feeling of pride.

In fact in this series Azhar remains the only batsman on either side to have achieved this distinction. His unbeaten 74 in the end does provide Pakistan with the opportunity of reaching 400 or nearabout.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2017