Abdullah Shafique swam through various phases of Pakistan’s second innings and discredited the danger of the Sri Lankan turn trio on a track that was offering help to help his side content a dig out from a deficit win in Galle.
Abdullah Shafique swam through various phases of Pakistan’s second innings and discredited the danger of the Sri Lankan turn trio on a track that was offering help to help his side content a dig out from a deficit win in Galle.
At the start of the day, Rizwan took Pakistan forward with his sweeps and two or three blustery cover drives. During their partnership of 71, which put Pakistan inside 65 runs of triumph, Shafique made just 23 runs and struck only a single boundary. Rizwan made 40 and was eventually out LBW to a Jayasuriya slider.
With the lower middle-order batters, Shafique was no different staying with the strategy of waiting out the good balls, and creating single options, occasionally by coming down the track, or by going deep into his crease.
When debutant Salman Agha and Hasan Ali who had been promoted to hit some big shots were out in quick succession with 41 still to get, Shafique was as yet unflinching. Only in that final stand with Mohammad Nawaz, did Shafique outscore his partner, passing 150 for the first time in his career, with 25 still to get.
The last hindrance in Pakistan’s way was the rain. With 11 required, the dark cloud that had forced a hurried shot out of Shafique released a deluge.
But the heavy rain lasted only minutes, and it soon became clear that play would resume, which is following a postponement of around one and a half hours. Shafique fittingly hit the triumphant run, a slap through the covers to take him to 160 not out off 406.
“I am thankful for the tailenders Yasir Shah and Naseem Shah to have helped me in the first innings. When I was batting with Abdullah Shafique we were just trying to build a partnership. He has shown his class,”
says Babar Azam.
“As a youngster, when you make your case, you have to perform in different and difficult conditions,”
Babar said.
“He [Shafique] showed his class, temperament, and how confident he is. Batting against quality bowling is going to boost his confidence. The way he plays is so clean, and how he remained focused makes it quite evident that there are many more [hundreds] to come. Though it’s just six matches and it’s too early to say that [he is the best opener in the world right now] but as a player, I think and hope that he can become one of the best.”
he added.
“We planned and prepared to keep the pitch conditions in mind because, at Galle, we know the spinner gets help,”
Babar said.
“With the game going deep in the later stage, when it gets rough, the ball carries more turns and bounces. So this is exactly what we had in mind while preparing. Hence, we have the result in our hands.”
“I’m quite happy that we chased the target on the last day. The Plan was simple we have to go for the runs. The pitch was difficult but as you spent more time, it got easier. When the spinners were bowling with the new ball, they were getting help,”
says Abdullah Shafique.
“I think if we put more runs in the first innings we could have put more pressure on Pakistan. But we batted well in the second innings. With the ball, we could not support Prabath from the other end. We had to give him more support. Naseem supported Babar well. The pitch went a bit flat at that point, but as a bowling unit, we need to give more support to Prabath. He is capable of bowling a lot of overs. He did a great job. He bowled good areas despite bowling 30-35 (56.2) overs,”
says Dimuth Karunaratne.
Pakistan 218 (Babar 119, Jayasuriya 5-82) and 344 for 6 (Shafique 160*, Babar 55, Jayasuriya 4-135) beat Sri Lanka 222 (Chandimal 76, Shaheen 4-58) and 337 (Chandimal 94*, Kusal Mendis 76, Oshada 64, Nawaz 3-88) by four wickets.