Set a massive 492 for victory, or more realistically 150 overs to survive, Sri Lanka made steady progress to 77 for 0 by tea on the fourth day at the SSC. With the pitch harbouring no demons, the openers weren't unduly troubled, and Pakistan were once again left to rely on heroics from their two spinners. A couple of close leg-before shouts aside, there was nothing to alarm the home crowd before tea though, with Malinda Warnapura and Tharanga Paranavitana playing some crisp strokes down the ground off the loose balls served up by the pace bowlers.
Shoaib Malik moved on to 134 before he was dismissed by
Pakistan's second innings had extended three overs after lunch, and with even Mohammad Aamer thwacking sixes on a placid pitch, Younis Khan called them in with 425 on the board. Having established a stranglehold on the game on the third day, Pakistan put the boot in during the first session, with Umar Gul the star of the show. Only this time, it was with the bat.
Trailing by 366 when play resumed, Sri Lanka started poorly, with both Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik taking fours from Thilan Thushara's opening over. The partnership had swelled to 133 by the time Nuwan Kulasekara gave Sri Lanka the breakthrough, getting some late movement to catch the outer edge of Akmal's bat as he went for the expansive drive, handing Mahela Jayawardene a sharp catch to his right at slip.
They couldn't build on that though. Thushara got Malik to slash hard at one, but Kumar Sangakkara's despairing dive only resulted in the ball being tipped away for two runs. The sloppiness didn't end there though. Paranavitana put down a high catch at slip after Gul had ducked a bouncer with his bat positioned like a periscope, and then Sangakkara fluffed a stumping with Gul way down the track.
Malik was moving along steadily, but his progress was halted by a nasty blow to the side of the eye, after an attempted pull off Thushara sneaked through the helmet grille off the top edge. In the next over though, there was an element of retribution, as a short ball was emphatically pulled for four.
Chaminda Vaas came on to great cheers from the sparse crowd, but it had no impact on the proceedings, with Gul freeing his arms to deposit one into the grassy banks behind midwicket. They had added 52 when Malik finally departed, thumping Rangana Herath to long-off, where Suraj Randiv, the substitute fielder, took a fine diving catch.
Gul though was in rampant mood, sweeping Herath for four and then top-edging Vaas for another, in between swiping two massive sixes over midwicket. Herath had the last word though, with another big heave smartly taken by Vaas running in from long leg. When Danish Kaneria holed out soon after, he had five for the innings, but it was unlikely to be anything more than a consolation in a match that Pakistan had dominated.
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