PAKvSL: Pakistan defeated hosts Sri Lanka & Abdullah Shafique hero of Pakistan’s victory

Pakistan defeated hosts Sri Lanka (SL v PAK) by 4 wickets in the first Test of the two-match series played in Galle. With this win, the visiting Pakistan have taken a 1-0 lead in the series. Pakistan had a target of 342 runs in this Test. Babar Azam and Co scored 344 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. Opener Abdullah Shafique, the hero of Pakistan’s victory

He scored an unbeaten 160. This is the best innings of his Test career. Apart from him, captain Babar Azam also scored 55 runs in the second innings. Babar had scored a century in the first innings.

Pakistan needed 120 runs to win on the fifth and final day. He achieved the target by losing 6 wickets. Shafiq was adjudged player of the match. Shafiq hit 7 fours and 1 six in his match-winning innings of 408 balls. Sri Lanka captain Keshav Maharaj won the toss and elected to bat first. The hosts were bowled out for 222 in their first innings. After this, Sri Lanka restricted Pakistan to 218 runs.

Sri Lanka scored 337 runs in the second innings, giving Pakistan a target of 342 runs to win.

After the victory, Abdullah Shafique said,

“I am happy that we achieved this record target. I congratulate the entire team for this historic victory. Our plan was to make runs. It was difficult but over time it became easier. The spinner bowled well with the new ball and Babar is one of the best players in the world at the moment. We’ve learned a lot from them. I enjoyed batting with him.”

Pakistan recorded its biggest win in Sri Lanka six years ago.

This is Sri Lanka’s second biggest win in Test cricket. With this, he had chased down 382 runs against the hosts in Sri Lanka in 2015. Pakistan’s victory in the Galle Test is also special in the sense that they lost their 8 wickets at one point in the first innings at a total score of 112 runs.