Cricket News: Sri Lanka vs Pakistan 1st Test- Babar Azam led a fight back with his ton against Prabath Jayasuriya's fifer on day 2

The day nowhere looked in favour of batters as the day once again saw nine wickets falling by stumps.

Babar Azam and Azhar Ali resumed the play from the overnight trail of 198 runs, but Prabath Jayasuriya dismissed Azhar Ali early for three runs. Babar Azam then got into a decent partnership of 40 runs in 65 balls with Mohammad Rizwan but couldn't capitalise on it. Pakistan's middle order became the victim of Prabath Jayasuriyas' surprise as the team fell from 64/4 to 112/8. The bowler wreaked havoc with his third five-wicket haul in three innings.

Naseem Shah coming at the 10th wicket, stitched a mammoth 185-ball partnership with skipper Babar Azam, enabling him to score runs quickly. Babar Azam reached his ton to score 119 runs, whereas Naseem Shah remained unbeaten at 5. Their inning ended for 218 runs with a trail of 4 runs.

Oshada Fernando and Dimuth Karunaratne opened for the hosts in the second innings to build onto a meagre four-run lead. They looked to see off the day with a decent start, but Mohammad Nawaz struck skipper Dimuth Karunaratne at the team's score of 33 to keep his side in balance. Nightwatchman Kasun Rajitha joined Oshada Fernando on the crease to watch out for a few balls and had done his job well to avoid further damage.

Sri Lanka currently leads by 40 runs at the loss of 1 wicket. With still enough potential left on the pitch, Pakistan bowlers must be confident to pull things in their favour, whereas hosts would again need a 250-plus target to put pressure on Pakistan in the final innings. As Day 3 is known as the 'moving day, it is expected to give a glimpse of who has more control over the game.