Sri Lanka were in for a huge shock after Pakistan stunned them with a record run chase to win the third Test at Pallekele on Tuesday and win the series 2-1. It was Pakistan’s first series win in Sri Lanka in nine years after three straight defeats.
Sri Lankans were extremely confident of winning the final Test after a fascinating century by captain Mathews set the tourists a target of 377. No team had chased more than 352 to win a Test in Sri Lanka while Pakistan’s highest run chase in the history was when they won by one wicket against Australia 21 years ago chasing 315.
“I actually thought after we made 376 that we were sitting pretty. This defeat will definitely take a lot of time to digest. We never expected this sort of performance from our team and for Pakistan to fight so well,” Mathews told journalists.
Sri Lanka had gambled by retaining Tharindu Kaushal as the sole spinner in the side and it backfired as the 22-year-old old youngster cracked under pressure bowling short and wide. He almost conceded five runs an over in the second innings as his 31 overs went for 153 runs. “Unfortunately Tharindu Kaushal didn’t bowl that well and we couldn’t put the pressure on them,” Mathews said.
Pakistan were facing a similar predicament on day four when Sri Lanka were batting. The wicket had eased out, but the second new ball on that morning did the trick for them as the last five wickets fell for 35 runs restricting Sri Lanka’s lead to 377. Similarly, Sri Lanka took the new ball on the morning of day five, but the bowlers weren’t able to knock off the tourists.
Mathews called for patience with the team in a rebuilding process. “It’s definitely not easy. We’re into an era where we don’t have Mahela and Kumar. All of us have to take responsibility and move on. No one is there forever. It will take a bit of time, but we have to take responsibility. But it was a good game from our point of view. We fought really hard to get to 376 and we never thought we would lose from there.
Mathews was questioned on leaving out experienced spinner Rangana Herath, who was Man of the series when the two teams met last time and Sri Lanka won 2-0. “It was a tough call and it was just a tactical decision. No doubt he is our number one bowler. Unfortunately we had to leave him out because they were playing Rangana really well in the first couple of matches and Tharindu Kaushal was troubling them in the second Test. We thought that’s the way to go in this particular Test.
Leg-spinner Yasir Shah finished with 24 wickets in the series and was named Man of the Series. “He’s a very good bowler. Not many loose balls in all three Test matches. He’s been accurate from the word go. He troubled most of us and we had a lot of problems with him. He will definitely end up being a very good bowler in the future. He’s been the difference between the two teams.”
“Over 15 years we’ve seen Mahela and Kumar play and we can’t measure the young players on their scale. In the past years, if Sanga missed out, Mahela scored a hundred most of the time. We have to be patient with this side. We’re all learning,” Mathews said.
