Sports Bulletin Report
Galle (Sri Lanka):-Pakistan demonstrated their comeback qualities as well as the ability to play quality spin bowling as they slowly but methodically edged towards achieving their second highest-run chase in Test cricket.
Chasing 342 runs for victory in the first Test on a spinners’ friendly Galle surface, Pakistan were 222 for three at the close of play on the fourth day and needed another 120 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series.
22-year-old Abdullah Shafique, playing just his sixth Test match, was leading Pakistan’s charge when he was unconquered on 112. With him was vice-captain Mohammad Rizwan on seven, who had walked into bat six overs before stumps after captain Babar Azam missed the line of the ball and was bowled round his legs after scoring 55.
Babar, who had scored 119 runs in the first innings and became the 19th Pakistan batter to complete 3,000 Test runs when he reached 30, put on 101 runs for the third wicket with Abdullah. Babar’s 104-ball innings was studded with four fours and a six.
Left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya, who had claimed 17 wickets in the three innings before Pakistan’s run-chase, picked up the wickets of Azhar Ali (six) and Babar Azam, but was made to toil on a surface of his liking when he ended the day with figures of 35-6-89-2.
Opener Imam-ul-Haq was unlucky and unfortunate to be stumped off Ramesh Mendis when his foot was fractionally in the air. The left-hander was looking solid and comfortable in his 73-ball 35 as he added 87 runs for the first wicket with Abdullah.
The star of the fourth day’s play was young Abdullah who was a model of concentration and application, and in the process displayed excellent technique and good shot selection against Sri Lanka’s slow bowlers on a deteriorating surface.
Abdullah, a former Pakistan under-19 batter, had faced 289 balls for his 112 not out and struck five fours and a six. The Sialkot-born opener had reached his half-century from 94 balls with four fours, while his second 50 runs came off 114 balls and included a four and a straight six off Jayasuriya.
Since making his debut against Bangladesh in Chattogram, the opener has scores of 52, 73, 25, 44, 136 not out, 13, 96, 81, 27, 13 and 112 not out which not only reflects his consistency but also ability to adjust and adapt to different batting conditions against three different oppositions in Bangladesh, Australia and Sri Lanka.
Interestingly, when Pakistan achieved their highest run-chase of 377 against Sri Lanka in Pallekele 2015, veteran Younis Khan had scored an unbeaten 171, while a young Shan Masood, playing his ninth Test, had scored 125.
Abdullah has a chance to emulate Shan and further enhance his reputation as a world-class batter if he can continue to lead Pakistan from the front and earn Pakistan a come-from-behind victory on a surface that is fully testing the skills, temperament and technique of the batters.
Abdullah will require complete support from the middle and lower middle-order that may not have the same experience as Misbah-ul-Haq’s side from the 2015 Test. But where there is will, there is a way and Abdullah has demonstrated that victory is possible only if each and every delivery is played on its merit and no opportunity is wasted in keeping the scoreboard moving.
Earlier, Sri Lanka resumed their second innings at 329 for nine and were dismissed for 337. Dinesh Chandimal added eight runs to his overnight score of 86 and returned unbeaten on 94. Jayasuriya was the last man out when he fell to Naseem Shah.
Summarized Score Card (Day-4):
Sri Lanka Batting (1st innings): 222 all out in 66.1 overs
Dinesh Chandimal 76 runs (Balls 115, 4X10, 6X1), Maheesh Theekshana 38 runs (Balls 65, 4X4, 6X1), Oshada Fernando 35 runs (Balls 49, 4X5, 6X0), Kusal Mendis 21 runs (Balls 35, 4X3, 6X0)
Pakistan Bowling:
Shaheen Shah Afridi (4 for 58), Hasan Ali (2 for 23), Yasir Shah (2 for 66), Mohammad Nawaz (1 for 18), Naseem Shah (1 for 53)
Pakistan Batting (1st inning): 218 all out in 90.5 overs
Babar Azam 119 runs (Balls 244, 4X11, 6X2), Mohammad Rizwan 19 runs (Balls 35, 4X3, 6X0), Yasir Shah 18 runs (Balls 56, 4x1, 6X0), Hasan Ali 17 runs (Balls 21, 4x0, 6x2), Abdullah Shafiq 13 runs (Balls 47, 4X2, 6X0)
Sri Lanka Bowling:
Prabath Jayasuriya (5 for 82), Ramesh Mendis (2 for 18), Maheesh Theekshana (2 for 68), Kasun Rajitha (1for 42)
Sri Lanka Batting (2nd innings): 337 all out in 100 overs (Target 342)
Dinesh Chandimal 94 runs not out (Balls 139, 4X5, 6X2), Kusal Mendis 76 runs (Balls 126, 4x9, 6x0), Oshada Fernando 64 runs (Balls 125, 4X6, 6X1), Ramesh Mendis 22 runs (Balls 32, 4X2, 6x0)
Pakistan Bowling:
Mohammad Nawaz (5 for 88), Yasir Shah (3 for 122), Hasan Ali (1 for 19), Naseem Shah (1 for 24)
Pakistan Batting (2nd innings) 122 for 3 85 0vers
Abdullah Shafique 112 not out (Balls 289, 4X5, 6X1), Babar Azam 55 rums (Balls 104, 4X 4, 6X1) Imam-ul-Haq 35 runs (Balls 73, 4x3, 6X0), Mohammad Rizwan 7 runs not out (Balls 12, 4X0, 6X0)
Sri Lanka Bowling:
Prabath Jayasuriya (2 for 89), Ramesh Mendis (1 for 76)
Toss: Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat first
Sri Lanka (Playing XIs)
Oshada Fernando, Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Ramesh Mendis, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Prabath Jayasuriya
Pakistan (Playing XIs):
Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (Wicketkeeper), Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali, Naseem Shah, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali
