Cheeks: Pakistan made the chase difficult at times but the visitors clinched a four-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first cricket Test on Thursday. Pakistan continued to lose wickets at regular intervals, but opener Imam-ul-Haq scored an unbeaten half-century, his eighth in Test cricket, to give the tourists victory before lunch on the fifth day.
Sri Lanka, winning the toss and electing to bat, made 312 and Pakistan replied by scoring 461 in their first innings. The home team scored 279 in their second innings, leaving Pakistan 131 runs to win. Pakistan did not start well and at stumps on the fourth day, their score was 48 for three.
On the last day when the game resumed, Pakistan needed 83 and there were memories of the 2009 Test in Galle, Then the visiting team, chasing a target of 168 runs, needed 97 runs with eight wickets in hand, but lost and was dismissed for 117 runs.
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Babar Azam added 41 runs for the fourth wicket with Imam on Thursday and the run chase looked like a mere formality but Prabhat Jayasuriya gave Sri Lanka some hope by trapping the Pakistan captain for 24. Saud Shakeel and Imam then added 43 runs for the fifth wicket, with Imam proving to be the more influential partner with his clever footwork against the spinners. He came down the track and hit a brilliant cover drive off Ramesh Mendis, but was caught on the next ball and Mendis got his first wicket of the innings.
Work done _
All smiles in Pakistani camp#SLvPAK pic.twitter.com/S5jmfa7w6j– Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) 20 July 2023
Jayasuriya took his fourth wicket when Sarfaraz Ahmed was caught at backward square leg by Kusal Mendis in an attempt to sweep. While wickets were falling at the other end, Imam was unbeaten on 50, facing 84 balls and hitting four fours and a six.
After the fall of the sixth wicket, Agha Salman came in when Pakistan needed four runs and completed the victory by dismissing Jayasuriya at long-off for six runs. Shakeel, who scored a double century under immense pressure in the first innings, was adjudged man of the match.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam praised Shakeel playing his sixth Test match. He said, “Saud Shakeel was unbelievable. We are very happy for them. We lost early wickets in the first innings but the way they handled the pressure was fantastic. His efforts helped us move ahead in the game. Very satisfied with the way he was working. Galle’s wicket is not easy to bat on but he made it look easy.
Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne also praised his deputy Dhananjaya de Silva, who scored 122 and 82 in the match. Karunaratne said, “We have to learn from Dhananjay.” He showed how to bat when the bowling is on top. If someone had taken responsibility and worked with him, we could have got a good score. To win the toss and not make a big score when the conditions were the best to bat on was very disappointing.”
The second Test starts in Colombo from next Monday.