Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, 1st Test, Review: Sri Lanka clinch the heart-wrenching thriller on a crazy 16-wicket day

Sri Lanka defeated the hosts Pakistan by 21 runs and won the thriller which saw 16 wickets fall on the final day of the first Test match. It was all drama in the final stages of the game as they had to celebrate their victory twice when Dilruwan Perera had bowled a no-ball the first time around after scalping the last wicket. But the wily old fox in Rangana Herath kept his nerve and bowled a ‘legal’ delivery in the next over to catch Mohammad Abbas in front of the stumps.He picked up a fifer for the 33rd time in his career and the team from the island nation defended their lowest total ever in Tests.

The defeat also breached the fortress of Pakistan at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. They lost the Test match at the venue for the first time. Chasing a paltry 136 on a fifth-day pitch, the visitors spun a web around Pakistan as they lost half their side only on 36. But the duo of the skipper Sarfraz Ahmed and the debutant Haris Sohail kept their cool and fought gamely to keep their side in the hunt as they went into tea break with 69 runs left and 5 wickets in hand. But soon in the third session, Sarfraz was stumped off Herath and then Sohail followed the suit to end all the hopes. The tail tried to wag a little bit but the ‘ageless wonder’ in Herath was too good for them and Pakistan capitulated on 114.

Earlier in the day

The hosts started the day on the top as they had Lankans on the mat with the score of 69/4 on day 4. However, the wickets continued to tumble on a crumbling pitch and soon they were reduced to 100/8 thanks to the masterclass from Yasir Shah. Niroshan Dickwella, with the help of Lakshan Sandakan, added vital runs for the ninth wicket which proved to be crucial in the end and stretched the lead to 135. Yasir registered another fifer to his name and finished with 8 wickets in the match.

What happened in the first innings?

The way first three days panned out of this Test match, very few believed there would be a result on day 5. After opting to bat first Sri Lanka posted a decent total of 419 on the board after batting for almost 5 sessions. Dinesh Chandimal led from the front and scored a magnificent 155 and remained unbeaten right till the end. He was well supported by Dimuth Karunaratne (93) and Dickwella (83). In reply, Pakistan was even slower than their opposition and scored their runs at a run rate of 2.6. They were calculative in their shot making and made sure they reach close to the total of Sri Lanka. There were no centuries but half-centuries from the openers and then backed up by another couple of gritty knocks from Azhar Ali and Haris Sohail powered them to 422 and took a slender lead of 3 runs over the visitors.

But come the last two days, the match turned upside down as 26 wickets fell in that period. Spinners from both sides wreaked havoc in the opposition camps as the wicket started to break up. In the end, Sri Lanka had better nerves and Chandimal had better spinners up his sleeve than his counterpart. Rangana Herath was adjudged Man of the Match for his excellent figures of 5/93 and 6/43 in the first and second innings respectively. He also became the first left-arm spinner to pick 400 Test wickets as he scalped the final wicket to start the celebration in the Sri Lankan camp. The victory was a much-needed one for them after what has transpired at home and their fans would hope that this is an entirely a new beginning. The second Test match will be played under lights now which will start from October 6.

Brief scores

Sri Lanka 1st Innings 419 (D Chandimal 155*); (M Abbas 3/75)

Pakistan 1st Innings 422 ( A Ali 85); (R Herath 5/93)

Sri Lanka 2nd Innings 138 (N Dickwella 40*); (Y Shah 5/51)

Pakistan 2nd Innings 114 (H Sohail 34); (R Herath 6/43)

Man of the Match: Rangana Herath