Sri Lanka faced a humiliating defeat at the hands of Babar Azam-led Pakistan on Day 4 of second Test. After a terrible batting display, Sri Lanka lost by an innings and 222 runs, their heaviest defeat at home in the format. Noman Ali’s seven-fer brought Sri Lankan batting lineup to their knees as they could only last little over 67 overs on Day 4.
Starting the day at 563/5, Pakistan batted for just two overs. Mohammad Rizwan in the second over of the day hit three fours in the 13-run over to complete his half-century. Skipper Babar declared the innings at 576/5 with a massive 412-run lead in the bag. On the other end, Salman remained unbeaten for 132 off 154 balls. He did not score a single run on Day 4.
Facing an uphill battle, Sri Lankan openers got off to a nervy start. Just when they looked settled in the middle, Babar introduced left-arm spinner Noman into the attack. He got the wicket off the first ball of his spell. Nishan Madushka got bowled after scoring 33 runs. The 69-run opening partnership was broken. No more wickets fell in the first session with Sri Lanka’s score 81/1 after 25 overs.
Dimuth Karunaratne missed his half-century as he got caught at forward short leg. The southpaw scored 41 runs from 61 balls including six fours. Noman went on a rampage. Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama fell to the 36-year-old. After the second session, Sri Lanka were 143/6 and an innings defeat looked certain.
Experienced Angelo Mathews ressisted the visitors and got to his patient half-century from 114 deliveries. He got good support from Ramesh Mendis but once again Noman did the trick. Mendis got stumped and the partnership came to an end. Then, Naseem Shah got rid of the tailenders as they all got out without troubling the scorers. Mathews remained stranded on one end as Sri Lanka got all out for 188. Mathews scored 63 runs from 127 deliveries.
Noman surpassed Yasir Shah and registered the best bowling figures by a Pakistan bowler in Sri Lanka in an innings. He is only behind South Africa's Keshav Maharaj who took nine wickets in an innings in 2018.
Earlier, Pakistan opener Abdullah Shafique scored his maiden Test double ton after rain played spoilsport on Day 2. The opener was adjudged ‘Player of the match’ for the 201-run knock. Pakistan's mammoth first innings score also included half-centuries from Shan Masood, Saud Shakeel, Rizwan and an unbeaten century from Salman.
In the first innings, Sri Lanka's top four batters failed to make a mark. Silva was the top-scorer with a 68-ball 57 as the hosts got all out for 166.
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