Sri Lanka [378 & 360/8d] defeat Pakistan [231 & 261] by 246 runs - Series is drawn (1-1)

[MenInG]

Dimuth Karunaratne, Sri Lankan captain: Back is still painful, getting an MRI tomorrow. Hopefully it is nothing. Someone had to take the responsibility, and I felt it was my time after Angelo got out. As a team we have played really well, we have stuck together as a batting unit. We come back strongly in the series, but we need to look to win every moment. Some mistakes that we will look to correct. Prabath played with me earlier and I saw his potential, we knew his potential and we saw what he could do this series. Angelo and myself have been playing since U-15 level, he has been someone who has always supported me and helped me. 100 matches is a great achievement and I hope he can play many more games for Sri Lanka.

Babar Azam, Pakistan captain: Tough game for us, we were trying to win. Credit to Sri Lanka, they bowled really well. We were ahead at a point in the second innings, but Dimuth and DDS played very well to take the game away from us. These are difficult conditions but we will take a few positives on how we played on this surface

Prabath Jayasuriya, Man of the Series: I've worked hard and stayed patient, happy with the rewards. The surface was not easy, but we stuck with our bowling partnerships hoping for the wickets to fall and it happened. I waited for my time, had a lot of support from my family. Happy to be playing now.

Dhananjaya de Silva, stand-in captain and Man of the Match: Very happy with the performance. I was batting well so far and got a few good balls earlier, but I was confident. Captaincy is hardwork but it is a good challenge for us.

 

[James]

 

[MenInG]

Sri Lanka's resounding 246-run victory over Pakistan in the second Test in Galle has seen them break into the top five of the ICC World Test Championship standings.

The two-Test series between the two nations has been an exciting one with both teams taking a match each. Pakistan went 1-0 up in the series with a four-wicket win in the first Test. Chasing 342, the visitors boosted their chances of appearing in next year's World Test Championship final, going to the third spot in the standings, while Sri Lanka ended up slipping to No.6.

And now the tables have been reversed with Sri Lanka climbing to the third spot with a win percentage of 53.33, while Pakistan have dropped down to No.5 with a win percentage of 51.85.

South Africa continue to rule the table with a PCT of 71.43%, followed by Australia, who are at 70%. South Africa have a good chance of widening the gap when they take on England in a three-match Test series next month.

The architect of Sri Lanka's 246-run win was left-armer Prabath Jayasuriya, who has been making waves in Test cricket since his debut earlier this month. In just six Test innings, he has accumulated 29 wickets, including four five-wicket hauls and a 10-wicket match-haul.

The wily spinner picked up 3/80 in the first innings, which included the wickets of the dangerous Babar Azam (16) and Agha Salman (62), who top-scored in the first innings. Along with Ramesh Mendis' five-for, Sri Lanka were able to restrict Pakistan to just 231, securing a 147-run first-innings lead.

The hosts then put up a commanding batting performance led by centurion Dhananjaya de Silva (109) to set Pakistan a daunting target of 508. The visitors had put on a confident 89/1 at the end of day four. Imam-ul-Haq was out early on day five but a terrific partnership of 78 runs between Babar and Mohammad Rizwan helped them see off the first hour of the day with ease.

However, within a space of seven overs, the momentum swung back in the favour of the hosts. It started with Jayasuriya bowling out Rizwan for 37, a horrible mix-up resulted in the run out of Fawad Alam (1) and Jayasuriya struck again three overs later to have Agha Salman (4) caught out at the stroke of lunch.

Things rapidly deteriorated for Pakistan after the break. Their lone fighter, captain Babar Azam became Jayasuriya's fourth victim, falling for a gritty 81. In the next over, Ramesh Mendis removed Mohammad Nawaz for 12.

Yasir Shah tried to delay the inevitable with a quick-fire knock of 27 but Jayasuriya had other plans. Wickets eighth and ninth fell in the space of three balls. Naseem Shah put up an 18-run stand for the final wicket but it was too little and too late for the visitors as Sri Lanka romped to a 246-run victory.

Prabath Jayasuriya finished with a match haul of 8/197, while Ramesh Mendis registered a match haul of 9/148.

https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/2692677

 

[Rana]

What a disappointing day

At least a Babar hundred would have made me feel slightly better but that wasn’t to be either

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Sri Lanka lost a golden opportunity to win a series. Poor batting in the 2nd innings of 1st test really cost them.

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

View attachment 116618

Babar looks happy and satisfied.

 

[Amjid Javed]

when is our next test series?

England near end of year ( 3 tests at home)

 

[Muhammad]

The slide started before lunch but the lack of fight and awareness post lunch was depressing with a series win on the line.

Not sure what was put in Babar’s lunch but his dismissal was not a surprise as he looked like getting our any minute. Perhaps the run out was playing on his mind but there was a break to get over that.

With rain imminent the approach of Nawaz and the lower order was hard to understand, Appreciate they’re not batsmen but throwing the bat at most balls is going to result in chances sooner or later (ok can happen if playing defensively but still percentages would be lower).

 

[Omer2002]

We were never going to win the series. I am happy my prediction of 2-0 defeat has been avoided and that only because of a miracle in the first test in my opinion which we should never had won.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Rizwan, Fawad and Agha threw their wickets away to cost us this match. Not to mention our spinners are rubbish and should all be sacked immediately from Test cricket.

 

[sam_ahm]

Pretty disappointing performance by Pakistan esp after the high of 1st test win, surely expected better.

SL were helped by winning the toss in both the games but I think in this 2nd test, Pakistan lost the game in their 1st innings. That innings should have been a big one, batting last is always tricky and although Pakistan could still have saved the test today, I think it was still the 1st innings that gave it away.

 

[Buffet]

Pakistan batted poorly here. Trying to hit out when you need to bat time.

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

I agree with most of you.

Sri Lanka were a better team. Especially their spinners are in a different league.

Pakistan escaped with a 1-1. Thanks to Abdullah and Babar.

Our spinners bowled as I expected. Disappointment.

Pakistan can't afford an injured Shaheen. We need him fit. Otherwise, we simply can't take 20 wickets.

 

[ChennaiFan]

1-1 is a fair result. Both are rising teams and it is good to have a win each for them to progress forward.

 

[shamaan]

Really disappointing from Pakistan that they couldn't last 3 sessions.

 

[shamaan]

Rizwan, Fawad and Agha threw their wickets away to cost us this match. Not to mention our spinners are rubbish and should all be sacked immediately from Test cricket.

The run out was Babar fault.

 

[shamaan]

Unless we have any youngster who is good enough to keep wickets in 5-day format.

Rizwan has been utterly disappointing in longer format.

Haseebullah looks like a good keeper and he's a proper batesman but he's couple years away from playing for Pakistan.

 

[shamaan]

Pakistan bowling bar Hasan Ali is minnow level at the moment. The batti g with Azhar Ali removed and Saud or Kamran injected in his place will be decent. Maybe time for Fawad to go as well, as he gets unlucky too often, dismissed though either a good bowl, good catch or run out. Shadab needs to be brought in the test team somehow but not at expense of Nawaz, as Nawaz is a useful player. Yasir will have to make way.

And what exactly has Hassan Ali he's bee outbowled by naseem.

 

[Mesozoic]

Just saw the highlights. Some of the shots played by the pakistani lower order batters were just atrocious. As if they were chasing 20 runs in the last over of a T20 game.

With rain and bad light expected a bit later in the day, they should have at least tried to stay out there for as long as possible. It's like they had given up and just wanted to get out of there asap. Terrible mentality to have in test match cricket.

 

[sweep_shot]

Pakistani tail seemed to be in a hurry.

They were playing like it was T20.

 

[MenInG]

Highlights of the 5th Day's play

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[MenInG]

Highlights of the 5th Day's play

<iframe width="800" height="713" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kraU8-16RDs" title="Day 5 Highlights | 2nd Test, Sri Lanka vs Pakistan 2022" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Some shocking dismissals in this.

I am all for MoYo letting people play their natural games but if these are their natural way of playing then they shouldn't be in the team!

 

[Moeey]

And what exactly has Hassan Ali he's bee outbowled by naseem.

They are all trash including shaheen. Outside new ball shaheen is useless.

 

[shamaan]

They are all trash including shaheen. Outside new ball shaheen is useless.

Shaheen stil outbowled Sri Lanka fast bowlers and Pakistan fast bowlers.

 

[Moeey]

Shaheen stil outbowled Sri Lanka fast bowlers and Pakistan fast bowlers.

Need a complete overhaul. Dahani and rauf should be given a chance in tests

 

[shamaan]

Need a complete overhaul. Dahani and rauf should be given a chance in tests

Definitely it's ridiculous that Dahani hasn't been given a chance.