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Sri Lanka squandered away what seemed to be an inviting proposition in the morning - being put in to bat on a flat wicket under the hot sun against inexperienced bowlers - by refusing to score and ultimately succumbing to the pressure that the relentless Pakistan attack built. As he had done during the recent series against Australia, though, Angelo Mathews batted intelligently with the lower order to lift Sri Lanka from the lows of 114 for 7, to a first-innings tally of 197.
Pakistan's bowlers were almost sold short at the toss by their captain who thought that any chance of taking wickets lay in utilising the scant moisture on a benign and deceptively green-tinged pitch. With a large heart and perseverance, though, they prised out six wickets in the second session after Lahiru Thirimanne's guide to slip off Saeed Ajmal had given them an opening at the stroke of lunch.
Pakistan's bowlers were almost sold short at the toss by their captain who thought that any chance of taking wickets lay in utilising the scant moisture on a benign and deceptively green-tinged pitch. With a large heart and perseverance, though, they prised out six wickets in the second session after Lahiru Thirimanne's guide to slip off Saeed Ajmal had given them an opening at the stroke of lunch.
Jayawardene went in the next over, prodding at Junaid Khan outside off stump and edging to slip. Junaid capitalised on the panic in the line-up to claim Prasanna Jayawardene and Rangana Herath with searing full deliveries but the fight had gone out of the Sri Lanka innings some time ago.
Cheema, 32, displayed the tireless zeal of a player made to wait almost ten years for his Test debut. He was at Sri Lanka throughout his spells, even hitting Jayawardene on the helmet grill when the batsman failed to get out of the way of a short one. Cheema's aggression was in contrast to the way Thirimanne and Tharanga Paranavitana added 26 runs came in the first hour, treating the benign Sheikh Zayed Stadium surface with the extreme respect that an overcast Headingley morning would deserve.
Though the three Pakistan fast bowlers, Gul, Cheema and Junaid - chosen ahead of the quicker and more experienced Wahab Riaz - ran in with heart, they were rendered ineffective in the first session by the lack of life in the pitch.
The openers' approach, however, bordered on the extreme of being over-cautious. The first boundary came in the 14th over from Paranavitana off the part-time offspin of Mohammad Hafeez, who came on to bowl as early as the eighth over. Having played sedately all morning, Thirimanne guided Ajmal straight to slip in the penultimate over before lunch. Sri Lanka had managed only 50 runs in the session.
Cheema struck with the first ball of the second over after lunch, getting Sangakkara to edge behind for Adnan Akmal to take a flying one-handed catch in front of first slip. Paranavitana contrived to survive longer with his defensive mindset but the manner of his dismissal - gloving an attempted pull to the wicketkeeper off a Gul short ball down the leg side - showed that patience without purpose inevitably comes unstuck against sustained pressure.
Just as Pakistan had used Sri Lanka's diffidence to spark a collapse, though, Mathews took advantage of Misbah's listless field-settings to add 54 - the highest partnership of the innings - with Suranga Lakmal. Mathews did everything that the earlier batsmen had not - he did not get tied down and attacked when allowed to, shielding Lakmal initially and taking advantage of the spread-out field all through. Misbah helped Mathews by repeatedly not bringing the fielders in for the final two deliveries of the over. On the rare occasion that he did, Mathews went after the bowling, slicing and punching Cheema for consecutive boundaries off the final two balls of the 61st over.
Pakistan eventually got through the tail when Junaid cleaned up the last two wickets for his maiden Test five-for, justifying his selection ahead of Riaz and setting up the game for the Pakistan batsmen.
Cheema, 32, displayed the tireless zeal of a player made to wait almost ten years for his Test debut. He was at Sri Lanka throughout his spells, even hitting Jayawardene on the helmet grill when the batsman failed to get out of the way of a short one. Cheema's aggression was in contrast to the way Thirimanne and Tharanga Paranavitana added 26 runs came in the first hour, treating the benign Sheikh Zayed Stadium surface with the extreme respect that an overcast Headingley morning would deserve.
Though the three Pakistan fast bowlers, Gul, Cheema and Junaid - chosen ahead of the quicker and more experienced Wahab Riaz - ran in with heart, they were rendered ineffective in the first session by the lack of life in the pitch.
The openers' approach, however, bordered on the extreme of being over-cautious. The first boundary came in the 14th over from Paranavitana off the part-time offspin of Mohammad Hafeez, who came on to bowl as early as the eighth over. Having played sedately all morning, Thirimanne guided Ajmal straight to slip in the penultimate over before lunch. Sri Lanka had managed only 50 runs in the session.
Cheema struck with the first ball of the second over after lunch, getting Sangakkara to edge behind for Adnan Akmal to take a flying one-handed catch in front of first slip. Paranavitana contrived to survive longer with his defensive mindset but the manner of his dismissal - gloving an attempted pull to the wicketkeeper off a Gul short ball down the leg side - showed that patience without purpose inevitably comes unstuck against sustained pressure.
Just as Pakistan had used Sri Lanka's diffidence to spark a collapse, though, Mathews took advantage of Misbah's listless field-settings to add 54 - the highest partnership of the innings - with Suranga Lakmal. Mathews did everything that the earlier batsmen had not - he did not get tied down and attacked when allowed to, shielding Lakmal initially and taking advantage of the spread-out field all through. Misbah helped Mathews by repeatedly not bringing the fielders in for the final two deliveries of the over. On the rare occasion that he did, Mathews went after the bowling, slicing and punching Cheema for consecutive boundaries off the final two balls of the 61st over.
Pakistan eventually got through the tail when Junaid cleaned up the last two wickets for his maiden Test five-for, justifying his selection ahead of Riaz and setting up the game for the Pakistan batsmen.
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