Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, 2nd Test, Day 1: Talking Points

It’s Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, 2nd Test of 2 match series. Pakistan is on the tour of Sri Lanka and Singhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground is the venue for the 1st Test match. Being one of the famous grounds in Sri Lanka, this venue is also the headquarters of Sri Lanka cricket. Because, Singhalese Sports Club provides a batting friendly surface, captains winning the toss and batting first might get advantage. After Dimuth Karunaratne won the toss and decided to bat first, he along with Nishan Madushka opened the innings. Shaheen Afridi from Pakistan started the bowling attack for Pakistan from the other end. Pakistan got the early breakthrough in the form of Nishan Madushka, as he got run out by Shan Masood. 

In Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, Test, Day 1, Sri Lanka’s first 4 batsmen failed to give them the desired start. Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews along with Dimuth Karunaratne managed to score 6, 9 and 17 runs respectively. Being a skilled fast bowler, Naseem Shah took wickets of Dimuth, Angelo and Dinesh Chandimal, who scored 34 runs. Dhananjaya de Silva became the highest scorer for Sri Lanka, as he scored 57 runs before getting out on Abrar Ahmen’s ball. Leg spinner Abrar Ahmed took 4 wickets for Pakistan and sweeped the lower batting order of Sri Lanka. In the 1st innings of Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, 2nd Test, Sri Lanka managed to score only 166 runs.

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Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, Last session of the day

166 was one of the lowest scores of Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, Test cricket. After Sri Lanka put 166 runs on the board, Pakistan’s Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq opened the innings for them. From the other end, Asitha Fernando, a Sri Lankan fast bowler commenced the bowling attack. Sri Lanka got the early breakthrough in the form of Imam-ul-Haq when he got out on Asitha Fernando’s bowl. Being at the slips, Nishan Madushka took an easy catch for his team. Sri Lanka’s comeback in the game was possible, if they could have taken the early wickets of Pakistan. 

Pakistan’s opener Abdullah Shafique looked in tremendous form, because he remained not out at the end of the day by scoring 74 runs. 1st down batsman, Shan Masood played an important innings, scoring 51 runs before getting out on Asitha Fernando’s ball. Babar Azam, Pakistan’s captain came to the crease and began the innings further for them along with Shafique. 1st day of Sri Lanks vs Pakistan, 2nd Test ended after Pakistan played 28.3 overs. Babar Azam and Shafique ended the day remaining not out and scoring 8 and 74 runs respectively.