Noman Ali bags 6 wickets as Pakistan sniff innings win over Sri Lanka

Spinner Noman Ali took six wickets in his tear through Sri Lanka on Thursday as the tourists pushed for an innings victory in the second Test and a series sweep.

Sri Lanka were teetering at 143-6 at tea on day four and still trailing the tourists by 267 runs in Colombo. Angelo Mathews, on 38, and Ramesh Mendis, on nought, were batting.

Pakistan, who won the opening Test by four wickets, declared their first innings on 576-5 after just two overs in the morning session, with a lead of 410 runs.

Concussion substitute Mohammad Rizwan reached 50 off 67 balls with three fours in the second over and put on 108 runs with overnight partner Agha Salman, on 132 not out.

Opener Abdullah Shafique stood out with his 201 before departing in day three’s final session.

The hosts started strongly with an opening stand of 69 before Noman, a left-arm spinner, bowled Madushka for 33 with his first ball of the day.

Left-hander Dimuth Karunaratne hit boundaries off Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi, with Madushka joining the charge until his departure.

Karunaratne fell for 41 after lunch and Noman soon sent back Kusal Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal before Dhananjaya de Silva attempted to resist in his brief stay with Mathews.

De Silva fell for 10 when he was caught out by Abrar Ahmed while attempting a big heave over long-on.

Pakistan have held all the aces after bundling out Sri Lanka for 166, with Shafique’s maiden Test double ton guiding them to a mammoth total.

Shafique, a 23-year-old opener playing his 14th Test, put on three century stands, including a 124-run fifth-wicket partnership with Salman.