Cricket: Sri Lanka ride luck to reach 40-1 at lunch

Sri Lanka lost opener Dimuth Karunaratne and rode their luck to reach 40 for one at lunch on day two of the first test against Pakistan at Galle on Thursday.

Kaushal Silva was batting on eight with Kumar Sangakkara on four at the end of a rain-truncated 16-over session at the Galle International Stadium.

After rain had washed out nearly four sessions, Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq won the toss and decided to bowl, trusting his bowlers to exploit the freshness of the pitch and try and get the hosts out cheaply.

With a bit more luck and discipline, the visitors, especially paceman Wahab Riaz, could have at least dismissed both the openers by the eighth over.

The left-arm paceman, whose fiery spell against Australian Shane Watson was one of the highlights of this year's World Cup, had Karunaratne caught in the slip in his first over but it turned out to be a no-ball.

More misery awaited Riaz in his fourth over when Silva cut a delivery to backward point where Yasir Shah not only grassed it but also managed to hurt himself, requiring medical attention.

Riaz, whose struggle for rhythm was evident in the three no-balls he sent down in his six overs apart from being warned for running onto the pitch, eventually got a modicum of revenge in his fifth over after changing ends.

The paceman, who turns 30 this month, hurried Karunaratne (21) into a pull shot with a sharp, rising delivery and Sarfraz Ahmed collected the edge behind the stumps.

Sangakkara hit the first ball he faced from Riaz to the boundary and was peppered with a barrage of short balls in the bowler's next over.