Pakistan's Abid Ali, Shan Masood flay Sri Lanka in second Test

Abid Ali and Shan Masood became only the third opening pair for Pakistan to hit centuries in the same innings as the hosts dominated Sri Lanka in the second and final Test in Karachi on Saturday. The right-left duo put on 278 for the opening wicket before Masood was dismissed by paceman Lahiru Kumara, five minutes before tea on day three. At the break, Pakistan had reached 282-1 with Abid on 137 and skipper Azhar Ali four not out.

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Masood battered for nearly five hours for his 135, which included three sixes and seven fours. Abid struck 18 fours and a six. The two punished a hapless Sri Lankan attack on a dry National Stadium pitch, but fell 20 short of equalling the highest opening stand for Pakistan of 298, set by Amir Sohail and Ijaz Ahmed against the West Indies at the same venue in 1997. The openers helped Pakistan overturn a first-innings deficit after Sri Lanka scored 271 in reply to the home side's 191.

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Abid has been in sublime form recently, becoming the first Pakistani to join eight other players in an elite club of batsmen who have hit hundreds in their first two Tests. The 32-year-old completed his century with a sweep off-spinner Lasith Embuldeniya for two to follow his 109 in the drawn first Test in Rawalpindi -- his debut. The Rawalpindi century made Abid the first batsman ever to score hundreds in both Test and one-day debuts.

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He had scored 112 in his first ODI, against Australia in Dubai earlier this year. Abid and Masood were unperturbed in the first session after the hosts resumed the day at 57-0, with Sri Lanka needing early wickets. There was only one chance for Sri Lanka when Abid survived a confident leg-before shout off paceman Kumara on 61 but the tourists lost the referral with the replays showing the ball would have missed the stumps. Masood, playing his 19th Test, completed 1,000 Test runs when he reached 46. The current series -- part of the ongoing World Test championship -- is the first in Pakistan since a militant attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in 2009 which suspended international cricket in the country. 

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