A maiden double-century by Saud Shakeel and an outstanding rearguard action by Pakistan’s lower-order batters inflicted a severe psychological blow to Sri Lanka as the tourists took an iron grip of the first Test in Galle on Tuesday.
Saud, who also became the first double-centurion from Pakistan in Sri Lanka, returned unconquered on 208 after starting the third day’s play at 69 as Pakistan were dismissed for 461 in 121.2 overs (3.79 runs per over) in the last hour of play. The visitors had resumed their first innings at the oversight score of 221 for five, trailing the hosts by 91 runs, and ended up taking a first innings lead of 149 runs.
When bad light forced an early closure, Sri Lanka, who had scored 312 in their first innings, were 14 for no loss.
The seasoned and mature 27-year-old left-hander reached his second career century in sixth Test from 129 balls with nine fours, while he notched up his first double-century from 352 balls when he cut Dhananjaya de Silva for his 19th and last four. He faced 361 balls during his six hours of batting.
Salman Ali Agha, who was 61 overnight, was unlucky not to covert a brilliantly constructed innings into a century when he was stumped after scoring 83. Salman hit nine fours and a six as he scored his runs from 113 balls with a strike-rate of 73.45. Salman had joined Saud on Monday afternoon when Pakistan were tottering at 101 for five and departed at the score of 278 after adding 177 runs for the sixth wicket in 218 balls.
Saud was 100 when Salman departed on the last ball of the 56th over, but he then took control of the proceedings as Pakistan’s last four wickets added 183 runs in 65.2 overs with Saud’s contribution being 108 runs.
Following Salman’s return to the hut, Saud found another reliable ally in Noman Ali (25) as they put on another 52 runs from 104 balls. Although Saud’s eighth-wicket stand with Shaheen Shah Afridi only produced 16 runs from 19 balls, it was the ninth-wicket partnership of 94 with Naseem Shah that destroyed the Sri Lankans mentally and physically.
Saud not only dominated the stand by scoring 70 of the 94 runs, he allowed Naseem to receive 78 balls for six runs to expose the highly-rated Sri Lanka bowling. Naseem, to his credit, showed a lot of sense as he kept his head down and provided the best possible support to his senior partner.
Saud not only completed a memorable double-century, his gutsy and courageous knock also resulted in Sri Lanka’s two frontline spinners conceding in excess of a hundred runs. Prabath Jayasuriya failed to add any wicket to his three yesterday but ended up leaking 145 runs, while Ramesh Mendis added the scalps of Salman, Noman, Naseem and Abrar Ahmed to end the day with five for 136. Before becoming Mendis’ fifth victim, Abrar had inflicted salt to the Sri Lanka wounds by slapping a four and six in a 12-ball 10 as the 10th wicket yielded 21 off 27 balls.
With the two spinners, who pre-match were considered as the difference between the two sides, together giving away 281 runs, the balance of the series has shifted in Pakistan’s favour as not only Sri Lanka batters will have to bat hard to save the Galle Test but the Pakistan batters will enter the Colombo Test with a lot of confidence and conviction.
The onus for quickly turning things in Pakistan’s favour was on Saud Shakeel, who was batting for the first time in a Test outside Pakistan. The southpaw showed a lot of patience, determination and grit as he watchfully built his innings. His shot selections were from the top draw – be these the sweeps, inside-out shots, square-cuts or straight hits over the bowler. Everything about the scoring shots was textbook and a lesson for fellow batters as well as future batters aiming to make a name in international cricket.
The other highlight of Saud’s innings was he inspired confidence in the lower-order batters. This not only gave encouragement to the batters but also kept the scoreboard moving as 183 were added, leaving the Sri Lankans guessing on their bowling options and field placings.
With two days remaining in the Test, the wicket slowly showing signs of wear and tear, and the Sri Lankans shell-shocked by the lower-order fightback, Pakistan is definitely in a position from where it can dictate terms, of course, depending how their bowlers bowl on the last two days.
Scores in brief (day 3 of 5)
Sri Lanka 312, 95.2 overs (Dhananjaya de Silva 122, Angelo Mathews 64, Sadeera Samarawickrama 36, Dimuth Karunaratne 29; Abrar Ahmed 3-68, Shaheen Shah Afridi 3-86, Naseem Shah 3-90, Salman Ali Agha 1-18) and 14-0.
Pakistan 461 all out, 121.2 overs (Saud Shakeel 208 not out, Salman Ali Agha 83, Shan Masood 39, Noman Ali 25; Ramesh Mendis 5-136, Prabath Jayasuriya 3-145)
