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Colombo
14 - 17 June 2000
Sri Lanka won the toss and choose to bat first after rain had delayed play for around three hours on the first morning. Sri Lanka made a solid start making 30 runs without loss in the hour before tea. In the evening session Pakistan claimed three wickets to leave Sri Lanka 3 for 115 when bad light stopped play.
On the second morning Pakistan claimed another 4 wickets to have the home team 7 for 206. However, Jayawardene fought back and held the tail together to top score with 77. He was dismissed shortly before the innings ended with a total at 273. For Pakistan, Waqar Younis (3 for 50 off 14.2 overs) claimed his 300th test wicket while Arshad Khan was the best of the bowlers with 4 for 62 off 31 overs. Pakistan lost three wickets with only 75 runs on the board before ending the day at 130 without further loss, still 143 in arrears.
Sri Lanka pressed their advantage home on the third morning to take another 6 wickets before lunch for only 59 more runs. This collapse left Pakistan firmly on the back foot, as they were still 84 runs behind with one wicket in hand. However, the number 11, Arshad Khan, managed to bat through to tea while moving his own score to 7 while a vintage Wasim Akram smashed his way to 77 to bring Pakistan back into the game. The magic didn't quite stretch to a Pakistani first innings lead. Akram was out shortly after tea for the top score of 78 out of a total of 266 leaving a 7 run deficit. For Sri Lanka, Muralitharan took 5 for 115 off 47 overs to be the most successful bowler.
Akram then dismissed Arnold for his 400th test wicket before stumps with Sri Lanka at 2 for 53 desperately trying to set a defendable final innings target. On the fourth morning opener Atapattu (40) was dismissed for what was to be the top score of the innings. From that point (3 for 67) the innings disintegrated. Scoring at barely 2 runs an over they lost their next seven wickets for 56 runs and were dismissed after lunch for a total of 123. For Pakistan Akram took 5 for 45 off 15.3 overs to be the most successful bowler.
This left Pakistan a target of 131 with a little over four sessions of play remaining. From the aggressive batting they clearly wanted to wrap the game up and have a day off. Scoring at over three runs an over they managed to reach the target with the loss of 5 wickets and fittingly Man of the Match Akram was at the crease when Razzaq smashed two sixes to end the game. Muralitharan did trouble the batsmen and tried in vain to pull off an unlikely victory for Sri Lanka finishing the innings with 3 for 53 off 17 overs.
Second Test
Galle
21 - 24 June 2000
Sri Lanka won the toss and again chose to bat first. Pakistan carried their momentum from the previous test into this game and dominated the first session to leave Sri Lanka at 4 for 67 at lunch. Jayawardene (72) and Ranatunga (51) batted through the afternoon session to recover the innings, going to tea at 4 for 153. However, Sri Lanka lost their final 6 wickets before stumps for the addition of only 28 more runs and a total of 181. A significant contribution to this was a hat trick by Razzaq (3 for 35 off 12 overs) dismissing Kaluwitharana, Herath and Pushpakumara to end as the equal most successful bowler with Waqar Younis (3 for 39 off 13 overs). After a short break for drizzle, Pakistan then came to the crease and scored quickly to be well placed at 2 for 74.
On the second morning, Pakistan started slowly and then settled into a rhythm reaching 153 without further loss at lunch. In the afternoon session, Pakistan passed the Sri Lankan total after losing a third wicket to be 3 for 253 at tea and the match slipping out of Sri Lanka's grasp. Shortly after tea Anwar (123) was dismissed and then just before stumps Inzamam-ul-Haq (112) also fell to leave Pakistan in complete control at 5 for 341 and a lead of 160.
Sri Lanka failed to take any further wickets until after lunch on the third day while Pakistan built an unbeatable lead. Younis Khan (116) and Wasim Akram (100) made it four individual centuries for Pakistan before Moin Khan put Sri Lanka out of their fielding misery and declared near tea at 8 for 600 and a first innings lead of 419 runs. Muralitharan managed the "best" figures with 4 for 138 off 50 overs. This left slightly less than two hours of play during which Sri Lanka lost one wicket on the way to 45 runs at stumps.
The fourth day saw the loss of one wicket before lunch. However, despite a steady innings by top scoring Ranatunga (65) a continual stream of wickets tumbled at the other end to see Sri Lanka dismissed for 256. For Pakistan Younis finished with the best figures of 4 for 40 off 19.1 overs. Akram bagged his second man of the match award.
Third Test
28 June - 2 July 2000
Overnight rain delayed play on the first day until 2pm. Sri Lanka won the toss for the third time and again elected to bat. This time they made a solid start making 56 for no loss by the tea break. Pakistan dropped two catches in the evening session and Sri Lanka ended the day at 140 without loss when bad light stopped play.
Three more dropped catches on the second morning allowed the Sri Lankan openers Jayasuriya and Atapattu to reach their centuries and bat through the morning to move the score to 267 at lunch on the second day. Shortly before tea, Pakistan finally held a catch and Jayasuriya (188) was dismissed to set a new Sri Lankan first wicket record of 335 runs. After tea, Sri Lanka reached 400 and then lost four wickets before stumps to be 5 for 449 with Atapattu not out on 199.
Rain delayed play on the third day until after 4.30 local time. When play resumed Atapattu (207) scored the run to bring up his third double century in test cricket. Within a few minutes the players returned to the dressing rooms to shelter from more torrential rain. In the fifteen minutes of play, Sri Lanka had moved to 5 for 467 and play was abandoned for the day. Rain prevented any further play in the test over the next two days and the game was declared a draw. The best of the Pakistan bowlers was Arshad Khan with 3 for 137 off 52 overs.
