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Pakistan clinch second test against Sri Lanka and sweep series 2-0

Pakistan swept the two-match series on Thursday, defeating Sri Lanka by an innings and 222 runs at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. Pakistan scored 576/5d thanks to Abdullah Shafique’s lengthy double tonne and Agha Salman’s quickfire 132 not out. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 166 in the first innings and were bowled out for 188 in the second innings after being bowled out for 166 in the first. With seven wickets, Noman Ali was the standout of the bowlers.

In the evening session in Colombo, the left-arm spinner grabbed seven wickets and quick bowler Naseem Shah got three to bowl out Sri Lanka for 188. In his 15th Test, Noman delivered career-best figures of 7-70 as Sri Lanka suffered their biggest Test defeat at home. Pakistan, who won the previous Test by four wickets, declared their first innings on 576-5 with a 410-run advantage after just two overs in the morning session. Abdullah Shafique scored 201 in an innings that had three century partnerships, including a 124-run partnership with Agha Salman, who hit an unbeaten 132.

Earlier in the day, Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistan’s concussion replacement, scored 50 off 67 balls with three fours in the second over and put up 108 runs with overnight companion Salman. After dismissing Sri Lanka for 166, Pakistan held all the cards, with Shafique’s maiden Test double tonne guiding them to a massive total.

Sri Lanka had began their second innings well, with their openers combining for 69 points. But, as soon as Noman entered the attack, he unleashed a stunning delivery to remove Nishan Madushka for 33, and he proceeded to scythe through the batting order. When he grabbed his sixth and seventh wickets, catching Sadeera Samarawickrama at point when the ball bounced more than expected, and stumping Ramesh Mendis, there was still a chance he’d capture all 10 wickets in one innings.

Babar Azam, Pakistan Captain: “Very proud to win this series and all credit to guys and the support staff for working so hard in the last 3-4 months. Everyone stepped up and showed hunger to win this series. To be honest we haven’t ticked all the boxes, but we are working on our batting and fielding. The way our bowlers bowled here was good because there wasn’t much and especially today to put pressure on them. It’s a team game, but we’ve had outstanding innings in both Test matches from Saudi, Salman, Abdullah Shafique. We’re looking series by series in the coming games and will try to perform well. Being aggressive was part of the plan, it’s something we had discussed before coming here. We wanted to play positive cricket. So all the credit to the boys. It’s not easy to play spin here but they played very well.”

Dimuth Karunaratne, Sri Lanka Captain: “In the Galle Test we had to stand up after we won’t the toss, and 160 was not going to be enough. We knew it was flat and a lot of our batsmen threw the wickets and that was the turning point. We couldn’t capitalise after getting starts. Batters were getting 20s, 30s but nobody got a hundred. That’s what Pakistan were able to do and we’re on the losing side. We have to sit down and talk about what went wrong, what we should do when the ball is turning or reversing. Do we have to step out and attack? They batted really well, they rotated the strike, and these things we have to learn. We couldn’t rotate the strike and kept looking for boundaries. Not too many Tests coming up is challenging, that’s how it’s been for the last few years. It’s really tough but the players have to mentally step up, play domestic cricket, keep their fitness up. For me there are no small positives except that Prabath Jayasuriya controlled his line and length, and Dhananjaya de Silva had a good series. Otherwise we didn’t have a good series or small positives.”

Agha Salman, Player of the Series: “We were 100 for 5 and I spoke to Saud and said we need to build a partnership. We wanted to be positive and that’s how we had prepared in our camps in Lahore and Karachi. We wanted to play a positive brand of cricket and that’s how we had worked on our skills. I don’t mind batting at No. 5, 6 or 7, I’m just happy to play for Pakistan. I just try to play positive cricket.”

Abdullah Shafique, Player of the Match: “I’d like to thank Allah that we’ve won a series here. We really needed it and it’s a confidence booster for us. It’s pleasing to win and I’m very happy. Yeah, you can say that. I contributed in my team’s victory and that’s important.”

Farzeen K

Farzeen K

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