Dilruwan Perera took his 5th five-wicket haul as Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 68 runs to win the second and final Test match in Dubai.
Pakistan, chasing 317 runs to win was folded for just 248 runs despite Asad Shafiq’s 11th Test hundred. Perera returned with figures of 5 for 98 while Shafiq fought hard during his 112-run knock.
Photo Album – Sri Lanka vs Pakistan – 2nd Test Day 5
Shafiq and skipper Sarfraz Ahmed commenced day five on 198 for 5 with 119 more runs to win. They added 173 runs before Ahmed was caught off a miscued sweep at deep fine leg by Nuwan Pradeep as Dilruwan took the much-needed wicket.
Shafiq brought up his hundred with a paddled sweep single off Perera and was given a reprieve on the same score when Dimuth Karunaratne dropped a low catch of the same bowler.
Mohammed Amir was caught LBW off Perera while Yasir Shah was stumped cleverly by Niroshan Dickwella off Rangana Herath. Shafiq was the ninth man out when he edged fast-bowler Suranga Lakmal to slip where Kusal Mendis took a low diving catch to end all Pakistan’s hopes of an unlikely win.
Herath wrapped up the proceedings when Wahab Riaz miscued a slog as Sri Lanka completed a 2-0 win to leapfrog Pakistan to the 6th position in ICC Test rankings.
With this win, Sri Lanka became the first country after 115 years to win a Test match after being bowled out for less than 100 runs in the third innings. This is also Pakistan’s first series defeat at their adopted home of United Arab Emirates (UAE) in seven years. They had won five of the previous nine, with four drawn. This is also Pakistan’s first home defeat since losing to South Africa 1-0 in 2007, a series held on their grounds, and only the second whitewash in their history.
“We are over the moon. This is a great achievement for us. Credit goes to the boys and the team management for all their practice methods. Also want to credit the selectors for their backing. It was a tough series against India but we learnt a lot from that. Last night, in the last session, it was difficult to bowl with the dew factor which didn’t help the spinners. But, we knew that today in the afternoon, it will grip better as we have quality spinners. Credit to the whole team as they did a great job throughout.”
Skipper Dinesh Chandimal stated after the win.
Earlier, Dimuth Karunaratne’s majestic 196 along with a couple of fifties got the visitors to a challenging total of 482 after opting to bat first for the second consecutive time. In reply, Pakistan’s batsmen failed to apply themselves with only Sohail and Azhar digging in a bit as Sri Lanka took a 220-run first innings lead. Sri Lanka struggled on day four when they were bundled out for 96 in their second innings. Throughout the match, Sri Lanka’s bowlers were disciplined and reaped the rewards for it.
Man of the Series and Man of the Match – Dimuth Karunarathne
