GALLE, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka on Thursday leveled two match series against Pakistan by defeating green shirts by a massive 256 runs in the second Galle Test.
Pakistan’s batting line crumbled just before lunch on final day, as quick and un-orthodox wickets of Muhammad Rizwan and Fawad Alam broke the momentum, which was gained earlier by Rizwan-Babar partnership. However, Pakistan could reach only 261, chasing heavenly 507.
In their first innings, Sri Lanka posted 378 with fifties from Dinesh Chandimal (80), Niroshan Dickwella (51) and Oshada Fernando (50). In reply, Pakistan managed 231 where Agha Salman was the top scorer with 62 runs. Ramesh Mendis picked up 5 wickets for Sri Lanka.
In their second innings, Sri Lanka declared on 360 with a tremendous ton from Dhananjaya de Silva (109). Pakistan had to see off more than one and a half day in order to avoid defeat, or they had to chase down 508 runs to clean sweep the series.
The visitors played aggressively throughout their second inning, and the runs kept coming with a smooth flow, unless Muhammad Rizwan was clean bowled while leaving a ball alone, outside the off-stump. Rizwan’s miscalculation was followed by Fawad Alam’s misjudgment as the left handed batsman was run-out in result of confusion with his partener, Babar Azam.
Wickets kept trembling and Pakistan were bowled out for 231 during the second session. Captain Babar Azam remained top scorer for Pakistan with his 81. Imam ul Haq fell when he was one short of his fifty.
Sri Lanka ended their innings on Wednesday afternoon with a monumental lead but the weather remained a concern for the hosts, with play ending early on days three and four due to bad light and rain predicted for Thursday afternoon.
Pakistan fell behind Sri Lanka by 147 runs after being bowled out for 231 in response to the hosts’ first-innings 378.
