We discussed at length in this space last week the sheer significance of the second and final Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Yes, it was going to round off the first Test series in the country for over a decade, but what was also going to be momentous was the result that Pakistan would produce on the field.
After being completely dominated in Australia, and following the T20I series whitewash against Sri Lanka in October, the Test series was an absolute must-win for the team; and perhaps even more so for its leadership and management, skippered by Azhar Ali and coached-selected by Misbah-ul-Haq. With the first Test in Rawalpindi being virtually rained off, it all boiled down to the Karachi Test.
Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah
Scoring 191 in the first innings after opting to bat first, with 60-odd from both Babar Azam and Asad Shadiq the only meaningful contributions, Pakistan were already behind the gameplay after the first couple of sessions of the match. Three early Sri Lankan wickets at the end of the day’s play meant that while the visitors had the advantage, Pakistan had pegged some of it back.
With a couple of early wickets on Day 2, leaving Sri Lanka at 80-5, Pakistan slid ahead in the game. However, partnerships lower down the order, centering around Dinesh Chandimal’s 74, meant that Sri Lanka managed to muster a healthy 80 run lead, finishing with 271. Shaheen Afridi and Mohammed Abbas took nine wickets between them, with the former getting a hard-earned five-for.
The turning point for the match came in the final session of the second day, with Pakistani openers coming into bat, trailing by 80 runs in the aftermath of a struggling first innings for the home side, wherein they were undone by four wickets each from Lahiru Kumara and Lasith Embuldeniya.
Mohammed Abbas
Under pressure Shaan Masood, and the trailblazing Abid Ali, showed a combination of grit and counterattacking skills which resulted in a mammoth 278 run opening partnership, well into the middle of Day 3, by which time Pakistan had firmly established their ascendancy.
Shaan Masood (135) and Abid Ali (174) were joined by the crisis laden Azhar Ali (118) and the world conquering Babar Azam (100*), as Pakistan became only the second side in Test history to see all of its top four score a century in the same innings.
While Azhar desperately needed his ton to return to form, and Babar truly established himself as a force now in all formats, the openers’ centuries proved to be the differential in the match, and the series.
The four centurions
Chasing a mammoth 476 to win the match, Sri Lanka were bundled out for 212 in little over two sessions, culminating in the first few minutes of the final day, with Naseem Shah’s first five-for dismantling the batting lineup.
With all three Pakistani pacers looking menacing, Yasir Shah returning to form would make this bowling lineup well-rounded, and as devastating as any attack that Pakistan have had in Test cricket over the past decade.
But it’s the batting that has truly stood out, which in fact also managed to salvage some positives from an otherwise disastrous Australia tour. And within that subset, it is Abid Ali – the Player of the Match in both contests and in turn the Player of the Series – who has truly announced himself and made the opening berth his own, with back to back hundreds in his first two Tests.
With Haris Sohail and Fawad Alam vying for that number six slot, Pakistan now have a settled Test 11 for the first time since the retirement of #MisYou in May 2017, including Mohammed Rizwan who has shone with the gloves and looked good with the bat.
Now the side needs Bangladesh to tour the country for the Test series, because there is no way that Pakistan should consider playing its cricket anywhere else but Pakistan.
