"Everyone put in their efforts for us to win the series": Pakistan skipper Babar Azam
Jul 27, 2023
Colombo [Sri Lanka], July 27 : Pakistan skipper Babar Azam hailed the entire unit for their triumph against Sri Lanka in the two-match Test series after clinching the series on Day 4 of the second Test match at the Sinhalese Sports Club on Thursday.
In both Test matches Pakistan were always a step ahead of the hosts. Their bowling attack was ruthless while the batting unit knew their specific roles throughout the innings.
Babar heaped praise on the entire team and said in the post-match presentation, "Very proud to win the series, all credit to the boys and the coaching staff who've worked hard from the last 3-4 months. Everyone put in their efforts for us to win the series. We ticked all the boxes, we worked hard on batting and fielding, not a lot of it in the pitch for the pacers, but they bowled really well in both Tests."
"This is a team game, Saud in the first Test and Abdullah here were outstanding. We are taking it series by series and will try to perform at our best. We have a plan, we decided to play positive cricket and play up to our strengths, we want an improvement of at least 5-10%, it's not easy to win here, but I think we dominated them in both matches," Bbabar added.
Sri Lanka displayed some fighting spirit in the first game but failed to resist the sheer quality of the Pakistan team.
Especially in the second Test, Sri Lanka were a few steps behind the visitors in all departments. On Day 4 they enjoyed a steady start with the bat Noman Ali began his relentless onslaught on the Sri Lankan batters by picking up Nishan Madushka's wicket for 33.
With the end of their 69-run partnership, skipper Dimuth Karunaratne was next to follow before completing his half-century. Noman Ali struck once again to take Pakistan a step closer towards victory.
Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews tried to string up a partnership but Noman didn't allow to let that happen.
The veteran spinner didn't allow to happen that with the next four batters Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama and Ramesh Mendis falling in quick succession.
Naseem Shah picked up the remaining three wickets to mark the end of the series.
