Daijiworld Media Network

Colombo, Jun 30 : Hello, and a warm welcome to one and all to the 2nd Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan from the Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo. A massive win at Galle has ensured that the hosts enjoy a 1-0 lead in the series. Pakistan will gladly welcome back their skipper, Misbah-ul-haq who missed the first Test due to suspension. Will Pakistan make any more changes? Will Sri Lanka retain the winning combination?

Sri Lanka have won the toss and elected to field

Mahela: We are going to bowl first. It's a bit of a tough call but we have played enough cricket here to realise that there will be some assistance for the bowlers early on. There has been a bit of a rain in the last few days. We are going in with the same team.

Misbah: Everyone's hurt to lose the ODI series and then the first Test. The boys are keen to come back. Umar Gul has a slight niggle so Cheema comes in for him. I would have batted first anyway.

Teams:

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Tharanga Paranavitana, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene(c), Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Prasanna Jayawardene(w), Nuwan Kulasekara, Rangana Herath, Suraj Randiv, Nuwan Pradeep

Pakistan (Playing XI): Taufeeq Umar, Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Misbah-ul-Haq(c), Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal(w), Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Aizaz Cheema, Junaid Khan

Sri Lanka: Despite all the umpiring howlers, it was evident that the hosts played the better cricket at Galle. The batting was sharp with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara notching up centuries. The bowling then added to Pakistan's misery to ensure an easy victory. Rangana Herath was the stand-out performer once again. He has come of age ever since the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan and has led his team to some impressive results. He got some good support from Suraj Randiv while Nuwan Kulasekara continued his habit of tormenting Pakistan. In short, it was an all-round show from the hosts who enjoy a 11-4 W/L record at Galle.

Pakistan: Notwithstanding all the issues with the umpiring, the visitors will be the first one to accept that their overall game was pretty poor at Galle. Mohammad Hafeez, the stand-in captain struggled to get his act together while Azhar Ali had a rare double failure. The absence of Misbah-ul-Haq told on the visitors as they missed his reassuring batting and calm captaincy. Asad Shafiq and Younis Khan did chip in with eighties in the second knock but Pakistan were always fighting a losing battle. The fielding was shoddy, though a lot better than the ODI series and the bowlers toiled hard without looking like running through the batting line-up of Sri Lanka. The visitors will need a much improved display on what is usually a bowler's graveyard at the SSC to go into the final Test with the series tied.