The second and final Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan commenced on July 24 at Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. The hosts would've hoped to start the match well after losing the opening game. But by the time the umpires called stumps, they were miles behind in the Test match thanks to a lacklustre effort with the bat after winning the toss on a briliant surface.
Pakistan were all over Sri Lanka in the first session itself as they lost four wickets for just 36 runs Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi striking with the new ball. It was more to do with some shoddy and irresponsible batting from the home team while the fast bowling duo made sure they kept the pressure on right through. Dhananjaya de Silva once again stepped up for Sri Lanka and with him was Dinesh Chandimal this time as they added 85 runs for the fifth time.
Just when it felt that Sri Lanka are recovering from early blow, Naseem's short ball ploy against Chandimal worked and that triggered yet another collapse. De Silva notched up another half-century but with wickets falling at the other end, he too looked for quick runs and perished. Abrar Ahmed struck gold with the ball picking up four wickets as Sri Lanka got bundled out for just 166 runs, their lowest Test total ever at the venue.
With the bat, Pakistan once again were aggressive and ended up creating history. Abdullah Shafique took the attack to the opposition despite losing his partner Imam-ul-Haq early. Shan Masood also batted well as Pakistan brought up their 100 in just 16.4 overs, the fastest ever in first innings in their cricketing history in Tests. Runs came thick and fast as they added 118 runs for the second wicket in less than 20 overs.
Masood played a poor shot after getting to his fifty but Shafique did well to remain unbeaten on 74 off 99 balls at stumps as Pakistan ended only 19 runs short of Sri Lanka's first innings. Their skipper Babar Azam is in the middle as well on eight runs as the visitors plundered 145 runs in 28.3 overs. If they don't manage to pick early wickets, Sri Lanka might have a long day in offing as Pakistan will look to build a healthy lead.
