A staggering performance from Abdullah Shafique helped Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by four wickets in the first Test of the two-match Test series on Wednesday at Galle.
Shafique remained unbeaten on 160 while Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan also assisted in the run chase.
At the end of day four, the visitors finished at 222/3, with Mohammad Rizwan 7* and Abdullah Shafique 112* unbeaten at the crease.
Mohammad Rizwan put on a good partnership along with opener Abdullah Shafique who was still standing on the pitch at the score of 112. Pakistan got close to winning as only 115 runs were left thanks to the partnership of the duo.
Prabath Jayasuriya scalped his third wicket of the game which came from an lbw as Rizwan made his way back to the dugout at the score of 40. Agha Salman was up next in the batting order for Pakistan but he also could not accompany Shafique as he gave away his wicket to Jayasuriya at only 12 runs. The bowler struck again bringing up his tally of wickets to four for the innings.
The score stood at 298 at 5 for Pakistan. Sri Lanka really needed the wicket of Shafique if they wanted to turn things around for them but he stood strong till the last. Hasan Ali who was up next for Pakistan also could not accompany the opener for much time as he got out for 5 runs at the hands of Dhananjaya de Silva.
The match resumed soon after a rain delay. Shafique hit the winning runs for the Pakistan team as he carried his team to victory in the first Test of the two-match Test series at Galle.
The second Test of the series was also transferred to Galle from Colombo amid the economic crisis in Sri Lanka which resulted in a number of protests around the country.
Jayasuriya played a huge part in Sri Lanka's bowling attack taking four wickets for 135 from 56.2 overs. The rest of the bowling lineup couldn't assist him well with Dhananjaya de Silva and Ramesh Mendis getting a wicket each.
Earlier in their first innings, Pakistan was bundled out for just 218. Skipper Azam fought a lone battle for his side, scoring 119 runs. Other players could not cross the 20-run mark.
Prabath Jayasuriya continued his amazing run with the ball, taking 5/82. Spinners Maheesh Theekshana and Ramesh Mendis also got two wickets. Kasun Rajitha got one wicket.
In the first innings, Sri Lanka opted to bat first, the hosts put a total of 222 runs on the board. While Oshada Fernando (35) and Maheesh Theekshana (38) delivered solid contributions, it was a gritty knock by Dinesh Chandimal (76) that pushed the Lankans to a respectable score.
Pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi was the standout bowler for Pakistan, taking 4/58. Hasan Ali and Yasir Shah took two wickets each while Naseem Shah and Mohammed Nawaz could get only one.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 218 (Babar 119, Jayasuriya 5-82) and 344 for 6 (Shafique 160*, Babar 55, Jayasuriya 4-135) beat Sri Lanka 222 (Chandimal 76, Shaheen 4-58) and 337 (Chandimal 94*, Kusal Mendis 76, Oshada 64, Nawaz 3-88) by four wickets.
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