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Sri Lanka 482 (Karunaratne 196, Yasir Shah 6-184) and 96 (Wahab Riaz 4-41, Haris Sohail 3-1) beat Pakistan 262 (Azhar 59, Sohail 56, Perera 3-72, Herath 3-84) and 248 (Shafiq 112, Sarfraz 68, Perera 5-98) by 68 runs
Dubai: Sri Lanka registered a historic win by 68 runs against Pakistan in the second day-night Test match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. With this victory, the Lankan side won the series by a margin of 2-0 and became the first team to win a Test series in the UAE against Pakistan.
An inspired batting by Dimuth Karunaratne and a superb spell by Dilruwan Perera in the second innings guided the visitors to a famous win.
After winning the toss Sri Lanka opted to bat on a wicket which seemed conducive for batting. The Lankans began on a positive note as Dimuth Karunaratne and skipper Dinesh Chandimal batted ably.
After settling down, Karunaratne took the attack to the bowlers and went on to score a career-best 196.
Courtesy of his innings Sri Lanka posted 482 in their first innings. This was a formidable total for the Lankans as no team has lost after scoring as many in their first innings in Tests in UAE. The only bright spot was the Yasir Shah’s five-fer.
However, Pakistan failed to capitalize on the momentum and was dismissed cheaply in their first innings.
On a tricky batting surface, they were bundled out for 262 and thereby handing Sri Lanka a lead of 220 runs.
It seemed all over for the home team from thereon before an inspired spell of bowling by Wahab Riaz ((4/41) saw the home team make a dramatic comeback into the match.
The Test match which looked out of Pakistan’s grasp sprang to life after the home side bowled out the visitors in the second innings for a paltry 96.
Set a stiff target of 317, Pakistan once again had a poor start before skipper Sarfraz Khan and Asad Shafiq put together a record partnership to bring the home side close to a win.
Shafiq also went on to score a fine hundred and almost managed to take his side to a win. But the dismissal of the two batsmen was the final nail in the coffin as the target proved to be a bit too much for asking on a fifth-day pitch as Ultimately Pakistan were bowled out for 248.
After the dismal performance against India Sri Lanka will heave a sigh of relief as this win will bring the much-needed confidence back into the side.
