Sri Lanka managed to reduce Pakistan to 48/3 in a nervy hour of play to end day 4 of the 1st Test, after setting the visitors a target of 131 to win.
The Pakistan chase started off in brisk fashion, with 6 coming off the first over by Vishwa Fernando, but the introduction of spin in the form of Ramesh Mendis from the other end saw Sri Lanka exert some pressure on the visitors.
Prabath Jayasuriya’s introduction into the attack came in 5th over and he struck in his 2nd, getting Abdullah Shafique caught behind to claim his 50th Test wicket in Galle. The dismissal itself was somewhat comical, with the ball lodging itself between Sadeera Samarawickrama’s legs and the keeper taking more than a few seconds to secure it in his gloves. Shafique reviewed unsuccessfully.
Imam Ul-Haq and Shan Masood looked to attack, sticking with their positive intent from the 1st innings, but Masood didn’t last long, Jayasuriya getting him too, caught well at short leg by Nishan Madushka.
The last wicket of the day came in the form of a run-out, with nightwatchman Nauman Ali the victim.
Sri Lanka used up two of their reviews, the first one on Imam and the second on Babar Azam – their poor use of DRS continued.
Sri Lanka came into day 4 on an overnight score of 14/0, having conceded a lead of 149 to Pakistan. Dimuth Karunaratne and his opening partner Nishan Madushka kept the scoreboard ticking along at around the 4 runs per over mark, barely troubled, barring a couple of edges flying through the slip region.
The breakthrough came once spin was introduced, with Karunaratne well caught by Agha Salman at short mid-wicket. The Sri Lankan skipper clipped a Abrah Ahmed delivery in the air on the leg side, to give the leg-spinner his 1st wicket of the day.
Nauman Ali accounted for the next two wickets to fall, trapping Mendis in front (decision upheld on review), before he managed to find the outside edge of Sri Lanka’s most experienced batter Angelo Mathews – another good catch by Babar Azam seeing to Mathews’ end.
Nishan Madushka fell right after lunch having reached a half century before Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva put on a 60-run partnership for the 5th wicket. The pair was looking comfortable in the middle, with de Silva in particular looking to take on the bowling.
However, Chandimal fell hitting in the air on the leg – a dismissal very similar to Dimuth Karunaratne’s – and Samarawickrama was caught brilliantly at short leg as Pakistan reduced the hosts to 175/6, with a lead of merely 26 runs to their name.
Midway through the day, it looked like a day 4 finish was a definite possibility but a 76-run partnership between De Silva and Ramesh Mendis saw the lead cross 100.
Unfortunately just when it looked like Sri Lanka might even bat out the day, Mendis fell nearing his maiden half century and Shaheen Afridi claimed the big wicket of DDS with the lead on 120. The last 2 pairs could only add 10 more runs to the total as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 279.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nishan Madushka | c Sarfaraz Ahmed b Shaheen Shah Afridi | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 44.44 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | c Safraz Ahmed b Shaheen Shah Afridi | 29 | 43 | 6 | 0 | 67.44 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Agha Salman b Shaheen Shah Afridi | 12 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 85.71 |
| Angelo Mathews | c Sarfaraz Ahmed b Abrar Ahmed | 64 | 109 | 9 | 0 | 58.72 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | c Babar Azam b Naseem Shah | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 16.67 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c Shan Masood b Naseem Shah | 122 | 214 | 12 | 3 | 57.01 |
| Sadeera Samarawickrama | c Imam-ul-Haq b Agha Salman | 36 | 57 | 5 | 0 | 63.16 |
| Ramesh Mendis | c Babar Azam b Abrar Ahmed | 5 | 40 | 1 | 0 | 12.50 |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | c Sarfaraz Ahmed b Naseem Shah | 4 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 13.79 |
| Kasun Rajitha | c Abdullah Shafique b Abrar Ahmed | 8 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Vishwa Fernando | not out | 21 | 28 | 2 | 1 | 75.00 |
| Extras | 6 (b 4 , lb 1 , nb 1, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 312/10 (95.2 Overs, RR: 3.27) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-6 (2.2) Nishan Madushka, 2-22 (6.4) Kusal Mendis, 3-53 (14.2) Dimuth Karunaratne, 4-54 (15.2) Dinesh Chandimal, 5-185 (48.1) Angelo Mathews, 6-242 (65.4) Sadeera Samarawickrama, 7-257 (76.6) Ramesh Mendis, 8-282 (85.6) Prabath Jayasuriya, 9-283 (87.1) Dhananjaya de Silva, 10-312 (95.2) Kasun Rajitha, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | 24 | 3 | 86 | 3 | 3.58 | |
| Naseem Shah | 22 | 2 | 90 | 3 | 4.09 | |
| Abrar Ahmed | 31.2 | 9 | 68 | 3 | 2.18 | |
| Agha Salman | 5 | 1 | 18 | 1 | 3.60 | |
| Nauman Ali | 13 | 2 | 45 | 0 | 3.46 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abdullah Shafique | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Prabath Jayasuriya | 19 | 28 | 3 | 0 | 67.86 |
| Imam-ul-Haq | c Kamil Mishara b Kasun Rajitha | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10.00 |
| Shan Masood | lbw b Ramesh Mendis | 39 | 30 | 5 | 1 | 130.00 |
| Babar Azam | c Sadeera Samarawickrama b Prabath Jayasuriya | 13 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 81.25 |
| Saud Shakeel | not out | 208 | 361 | 19 | 0 | 57.62 |
| Sarfaraz Ahmed | lbw b Prabath Jayasuriya | 17 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 113.33 |
| Agha Salman | st Sadeera Samarawickrama b Ramesh Mendis | 83 | 113 | 9 | 1 | 73.45 |
| Nauman Ali | lbw b Ramesh Mendis | 25 | 57 | 4 | 0 | 43.86 |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | lbw b Vishwa Fernando | 9 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 64.29 |
| Naseem Shah | b Ramesh Mendis | 6 | 78 | 1 | 0 | 7.69 |
| Abrar Ahmed | c Angelo Mathews b Ramesh Mendis | 10 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 83.33 |
| Extras | 31 (b 9 , lb 8 , nb 6, w 8, pen 0) |
| Total | 461/10 (121.2 Overs, RR: 3.8) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-3 (1.6) Imam-ul-Haq, 2-47 (10.2) Abdullah Shafique, 3-67 (11.6) Shan Masood, 4-73 (14.4) Babar Azam, 5-101 (20.2) Sarfaraz Ahmed, 6-278 (55.6) Agha Salman, 7-330 (73.2) Nauman Ali, 8-346 (76.3) Shaheen Shah Afridi, 9-440 (116.5) Naseem Shah, 10-461 (121.2) Abrar Ahmed, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vishwa Fernando | 18 | 1 | 69 | 1 | 3.83 | |
| Kasun Rajitha | 19 | 1 | 77 | 1 | 4.05 | |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | 35 | 3 | 145 | 3 | 4.14 | |
| Ramesh Mendis | 42.2 | 2 | 136 | 5 | 3.22 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 7 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 2.43 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nishan Madushka | c Sarfaraz Ahmed b Nauman Ali | 52 | 115 | 7 | 1 | 45.22 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | c Agha Salman b Abrar Ahmed | 20 | 27 | 4 | 0 | 74.07 |
| Kusal Mendis | lbw b Nauman Ali | 18 | 45 | 2 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Angelo Mathews | c Babar Azam b Nauman Ali | 7 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | c Imam-ul-Haq b Agha Salman | 28 | 64 | 3 | 0 | 43.75 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c Sarfaraz Ahmed b Shaheen Shah Afridi | 82 | 118 | 10 | 2 | 69.49 |
| Sadeera Samarawickrama | c Abdullah Shafique b Agha Salman | 11 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Ramesh Mendis | lbw b Abrar Ahmed | 42 | 79 | 3 | 1 | 53.16 |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | c Shan Masood b Shaheen Shah Afridi | 10 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 90.91 |
| Vishwa Fernando | not out | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Kasun Rajitha | c Shan Masood b Abrar Ahmed | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 166.67 |
| Extras | 4 (b 0 , lb 1 , nb 1, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 279/10 (83.1 Overs, RR: 3.35) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-42 (11.1) Dimuth Karunaratne, 2-79 (24.6) Kusal Mendis, 3-91 (32.1) Angelo Mathews, 4-99 (36.6) Nishan Madushka, 5-159 (53.1) Dinesh Chandimal, 6-175 (55.5) Sadeera Samarawickrama, 7-251 (78.1) Ramesh Mendis, 8-269 (80.6) Dhananjaya de Silva, 9-274 (82.3) Prabath Jayasuriya, 10-279 (83.1) Kasun Rajitha, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | 13 | 0 | 64 | 2 | 4.92 | |
| Naseem Shah | 12 | 2 | 32 | 0 | 2.67 | |
| Agha Salman | 9 | 0 | 39 | 2 | 4.33 | |
| Abrar Ahmed | 24.1 | 5 | 68 | 3 | 2.82 | |
| Nauman Ali | 25 | 5 | 75 | 3 | 3.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abdullah Shafique | c Sadeera Samarawickrama b Prabath Jayasuriya | 8 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 44.44 |
| Imam-ul-Haq | not out | 50 | 84 | 4 | 0 | 59.52 |
| Shan Masood | c Nishan Madushka b Prabath Jayasuriya | 7 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 63.64 |
| Nauman Ali | run out (Ramesh Mendis) | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Babar Azam | lbw b Prabath Jayasuriya | 24 | 28 | 5 | 0 | 85.71 |
| Saud Shakeel | c Sadeera Samarawickrama b Ramesh Mendis | 30 | 38 | 6 | 0 | 78.95 |
| Sarfaraz Ahmed | c Kusal Mendis b Prabath Jayasuriya | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10.00 |
| Agha Salman | not out | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 600.00 |
| Extras | 7 (b 4 , lb 3 , nb 0, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 133/6 (32.5 Overs, RR: 4.05) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-16 (6.4) Abdullah Shafique, 2-36 (10.4) Shan Masood, 3-38 (12.6) Nauman Ali, 4-79 (20.3) Babar Azam, 5-122 (29.4) Saud Shakeel, 6-127 (32.4) Sarfaraz Ahmed, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vishwa Fernando | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 3.00 | |
| Ramesh Mendis | 14 | 1 | 62 | 1 | 4.43 | |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | 14.5 | 0 | 56 | 4 | 3.86 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1.00 | |
