Pakistan wins the series 3-0: At the SSC in Colombo, Pakistan finished off a 2-0 series sweep by crushing Sri Lanka by an innings and 222 runs in the second Test. After Noman Ali of Pakistan took the first seven wickets in the second innings, followed by Naseem Shah of India who took the last three, the match was effectively decided in three days, with one day seeing just 10 overs of play.
Pakistan declared their innings at 576-5 after bowling Sri Lanka out for 166 in just two sessions on the opening day. Shan Masood, Saud Shakeel, and Mohammad Rizwan all made fifty, while Agha Salman scored a hundred, and Abdullah Shafique smashed a double century.
Pakistan wins the series 3-0
Sri Lanka’s first-innings deficit became a staggering 410 runs as a result. But Sri Lanka’s openers got things going smoothly, racking up 69 runs in 18 overs at almost 4 an over. While Noman Ali went wicketless in the first innings, the Lankans continued to lose wickets at regular intervals following Madushka’s departure.
As wickets fell steadily from the other end, veteran No. 4 Angelo Mathews battled valiantly to the finish for his 63*. The first seven batsmen were all dismissed by Noman, and among them was Ramesh Mendis, the only batsman to provide Mathews any help from the other end as the two of them added 36 runs for the seventh wicket.
After Mendis’s dismissal, Naseem Shah’s reverse-swing proved too much for the tail, resulting in the wickets of Nos. 9, 10, and 11 Pakistan wins the series.
Pakistan’s 2-0 away victory against Sri Lanka gives them a great start to the World Test Championship 2023-25. They now have 24 points, ahead of bitter rivals India, who were denied a 2-0 cleansweep by the persistent rain in the Caribbean.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 576-5 (Abdullah Shafique 201, Agha Salman 132, 3-133) beat Sri Lanka 166 and 188 (Angelo Mathews 63, Noman Ali 7-70) by an innings and 222 runs Pakistan wins the series.