Angelo Mathews and Kaushal Silva produced contrasting performances on Friday to help Sri Lanka take a stable 166-run lead at stumps on the second day of the second Test against Pakistan in Colombo.

Resuming at an overnight score of 70-1, Sri Lanka suffered early blows when Kumar Sangakkara and Lahiru Thirimanne were dismissed in a short span of time.

However, Mathews played a captain’s knock as he steadied the innings by featuring in two solid partnerships. In the first session, Mathews joined Silva on the crease to put a 72-run stand for the fourth wicket and then teamed up with Dhammika Prasad for a crucial 73-run partnership for the seventh wicket before lunch.

Silva’s run out at 80 triggered a couple of dismissals as Dinesh Chandimal and Kithuruwan Vithanage were removed with a mere 11 runs added to the total before the captain again steadied the innings with Prasad (35).

Meanwhile, Yasir Shah replicated last match’s heroics to claim his second successive five-wicket haul to hold the hosts back from a more dominating position.

Yasir bowled 33 overs and claimed five wickets, including that of set batsman Mathews’ (77) wicket.
The hosts were 304-9 before rain called off the day’s play with Rangana Herath (10) and Dushmantha Chameera (0) remaining on crease.

Sri Lanka seek to level the series after losing the first Test at Galle by 10 wickets. (ANI)