Azhar Ali and Babar Azam add to Pakistan dominance before bowlers take charge

S.M. HUSSAIN: All of Pakistan's top four made centuries - only the second time that has happened in Test cricket - before seven wickets saw the home side close in on victory

Lasith Embuldeniya comes into bowl from the Pavilion End; he bowls short and wide; Azhar Ali cuts it hard; the ball passes the point fielder and the captain takes two runs to reach his sixteenth Test hundred.

If the fourth day’s play was just another day at the office for Babar Azam, it was a matter of survival for Azhar. He looked jittery at the beginning, which was understandable. He even took a blow on the chest from Vishwa Fernando; he was in excruciating pain, but he stood up to fight the battle – not only for himself but for Pakistani cricket as well.

As a battle-hardened soldier, he later hit three consecutive fours on the bowling of Fernando – the same bowler who had hit him just a few minutes previously.

Questions were being raised about his poor form and, by extension, his place in the side. After all, Sarfraz Ahmed was dropped as captain due to his poor form recently. Azhar's failure would have handed Pakistan a dilemma – they don’t really have anyone to replace him in the role, at least since Sarfraz is not in contention at this point in time.

With a lead of more than 400 runs already in the bag, Azhar chased some quick runs. He came down the wicket to hit Embuldeniya on long-on but missed and was stumped; he fell having made 118, with 13 fours in his 157-ball knock.

Babar Azam is fast becoming an icon in Pakistan. The crowd absolutely adores him. A good Sunday audience rooted for him and he didn’t disappoint. He leisurely drove Embuldeniya to long-on for two runs to reach his fifty off 81 balls.

He took another 50 balls to reach his third Test hundred, arriving at the milestone by dabbing Kumara into the off-side and taking a quick single. He acknowledged the crowd and touched his number on the back of his shirt with his hand. Azam is enjoying quite a purple patch; he has made three centuries in his last four Tests.

He became the fourth centurion of the innings and the fourth of the top four to reach three figures, joining Abid Ali, Shan Masood and Azhar. Such a feat has only happened once before in Test cricket, when Dinesh Karthik, Wasim Jaffer, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar all made hundreds at Dhaka in 2007.

^{Azhar Ali went to his 16th Test century}

After Pakistan declared at lunch at 555 for 3, the home side's bowlers came out prowling; they wanted to finish off the match today and were successful in striking a series of initial blows. Chasing a target of 476, Sri Lanka lost their first wicket when their batting lynchpin, Dimuth Karunaratne, edged a Mohammad Abbas out-swinger into Mohammad Rizwan’s gloves.

In the very next over Naseem Shah found the outside half of Kusal Mendis’ bat, enticing him to edge to third slip, where Azam grabbed it with ease. Then, Mathews got a good delivery from Afridi: the ball shaped away, taking a thin edge through to the wicketkeeper.   

Finally, Yasir Shah managed to get his first wicket of the match by deceiving De Silva as he went for a cut, only to inside-edge onto his stumps.

Oshada Fernando and Niroshan Dickwella then resisted Pakistan, forming a 104-run partnership. In the dying moments of the day, Fernando reached his maiden Test hundred. Dickwella and Perera, however, fell before the close.

Interestingly, even on day four, there was bounce in this pitch for the fast bowlers and Lahiru Kumara and Naseem Shah fully exploited it. 

Shah has bowled quickly in this Test and, unlike in the first innings, he was rewarded today, beating three Sri Lankan batsmen with his pace.

Heading into the final day's play with only three wickets in hand, the biggest challenge the visitors face is in remaining motivated to see out the whole day. It seems an uphill task.

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