Pakistan defeat Sri Lanka by 4 wickets in 1st Test match
Jul 20, 2023
Galle[Sri Lanka] July 20 : Pakistan has joined India at the top of the ICC World Test Championship standings with a comprehensive four-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the first Test in Galle on Thursday.
The victory target of 131 was a mere formality for Pakistan, despite the fact Sri Lanka managed to claim three wickets on the final morning as the runs were successfully chased down prior to lunch.
Imam-ul-Haq (50*) and Agha Salman (6*) remained unbeaten as the match came to an end as Pakistan made a perfect start to their new World Test Championship campaign.
The victory sees Pakistan join India at the top of the World Test Championship standings with a 100 per cent win-percentage after one match apiece in the new cycle.
Pakistan will be looking to maintain their unbeaten record when the second Test against Sri Lanka commences in Colombo on Monday.
Babar's side missed out on qualifying for the recent World Test Championship Final (2021-23), with Australia defeating India in the decider at The Oval last month.
Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat first. In the 1st innings, Sri Lanka managed to get 312 runs on board. An incredible century by Dhananjaya de Silva 122 runs off 214 balls and mature innings by Angelo Mathews 64 runs off 109 balls helped Sri Lanka to get to a total above 300.
Pakistan's Shaheen Afridi took three wickets while giving away 86 runs in the 1st innings. Abrar Ahmed also took three Lankan wickets in the 1st innings.
Pakistan came out to bat, and in their 1st innings, they made a total of 461 runs. Saud Shakeel amassed a brilliant double century scoring 208 runs off 361 balls while Salman Ali Agha got 83 runs off 113 balls which helped Pakistan to set a big lead on Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka's Ramesh Mendis took five wickets while giving away 136 runs and Prabath Jayasuriya took three wickets giving away 145 runs.
In the 2nd innings, Sri Lanka made 279 runs, Dhananjaya de Silva scored 82 runs off 118 balls and Nishan Madhushka got 52 runs off 115 balls.
Pakistan's Abrar Ahmed got three wickets while giving away 68 runs in the second session. Norman Ali got three wickets and got hit for 75 runs.
Pakistan came out to bat in the 2nd innings and looked to seal the game. They comfortably achieved the target of 131 runs. Imam-ul-Haq got 50 runs of 84 balls and Saud Shakeel scored 30 runs off 38 balls. Pakistan made 133/6.
Prabath Jayasuriya took four wickets while giving away 56 runs and Ramesh Mendis got one scalp while being hit for 62 runs.
Pakistan won the first Test match by four wickets.
