Sri Lanka v Pakistan 2000

Toss: Sri Lanka.

Still shaken after the First Test, the Sri Lankans were not ready for a rampant Pakistan display in the Second. Their first innings was a disaster, picked open by vintage fast bowling from Waqar Younis and parcelled up by a hat-trick from young all-rounder Abdur Razzaq. Four Pakistani batsmen then made hundreds and the tourists were on course for an unbeatable 2-0 series lead. Again, they won with a day to spare.

The battle was lost on the first day when Sri Lanka, after winning the toss, were shot out for 181. There was a distinct lack of application on the part of the batsmen, with too many going for their strokes early on. Apart from Jayawardene and Ranatunga, no one seemed to have the will to make a fight of it. These two forged a useful 116-run partnership for the fifth wicket after Waqar, with help from Wasim Akram, had reduced Sri Lanka to a groggy 47 for four. But just when Sri Lanka were on the recovery track at 163 for four, Ranatunga was run out for 51 in thefourth over after tea, looking for a second on an overthrow. This opened the floodgates; the next five wickets went for 18. Razzaq, at 20 years 202 days, became the youngest bowler to claim a Test hat-trick - the first in Sri Lanka - when he sent back Kaluwitharana, Herath and Pushpakumara off the last three balls of his 11th over. He was only the second Pakistani to achieve a hat-trick; Wasim Akram had taken two, also against Sri Lanka, in consecutive Tests in the 1998-99 Asia Championship. Jayawardene once again batted with great flair in scoring 72 off 127 balls, but the scorecard made sorry reading. Only three batsmen reached double figures.

In stark contrast, four Pakistanis reached three figures. Saeed Anwar set the ball rolling with a quality innings of 123, his tenth Test century, which took 237 balls and included two sixes and 12 fours. But that was a quiet effort. Inzamam dismantled the Sri Lankan bowling with a ruthless attack that produced 18 fours in 112 from 163 balls. The four successive boundaries off Jayasuriya to raise his 11th Test hundred were breathtaking batsmanship. He and Anwar put on 105 for the fourth wicket.

Next in line was Younis Khan, who had made a hundred on debut against Sri Lanka three and a half months earlier at Rawalpindi. Following a poor series in the Caribbean against West Indies' pace attack, Younis found the Sri Lankan medium-fast bowlers more to his liking. He added 106 for the sixth wicket with Razzaq, and 120 for the seventh - a Pakistani record against Sri Lanka - with Wasim before he was out for 116 from 281 balls. Wasim was severe on the tiring bowlers, smashing six sixes and eight fours to reach his third Test century off just 86 balls. It was only the sixth instance of four or more batsmen making hundreds in the same Test innings, and Pakistan's 600 for eight was their highest total against Sri Lanka. Trailing by 419, the Sri Lankan batsmen found the pressure and Pakistan's pace attack too much to cope with. Jayasuriya and de Silva again failed to provide a major innings, and it was left to Atapattu and Ranatunga to delay the inevitable. Atapattu batted four hours for 59, while Ranatunga's two-hour response was typically aggressive. He hit 13 fours and had faced 80 balls for his 65 when he was lbw to Wasim's in-swinging yorker. Waqar picked up four wickets with a mixture of out-swingers and in-dippers for match figures of seven for 79. Pakistan's only setback came when referee John Reid fined Arshad Khan 30 per cent of his match fee for persistent appealing. Asoka de Silva, the first Sri Lankan Test cricketer to umpire in a Test match, must have wished his debut had been less traumatic for his countrymen.