Rain took out large gobbets of play on the first day in Galle, but on either side of each of those stoppages Pakistan and Sri Lanka engaged in an interesting haul of war, one that saw the callers band ahead courtesy a Shaheen Shah Afridi three- gate burst before the hosts reeled them back with a 131- run fifth gate stage between Angelo Mathews and Dhananjaya de Silva.
While Mathews, who had looked imperious during his 109-ball 64, fell on the stroke of tea Dhananjaya sutured another pivotal cooperation with Sadeera Samarawickrama( 36 off 57), before Pakistan struck one final blow on the stroke of wholes, as Samarawickrama was caught brilliantly at short leg by Imam- ul- Haq. Sri Lanka has 242 for 6 on the board.
Those last two lattices arguably made it Pakistan’s day, with Ramesh Mendis, now the last recognized batter alongside Dhananjaya, set to come in the coming. But with Dhananjaya still unbeaten on 94 off 157 deliveries, Pakistan will not be getting ahead of themselves, especially after he spent the utmost of the day showcasing his decreasingly uncanny knack of delivering when Sri Lanka demanded him most. This time he came to the crinkle with his side 54 for 4.
This was during the hour’s play in the morning session between an 85- nanosecond rain break and a late lunch. Afridi had formerly dispatched Nishan Madushka to snare his 100th Test gate in the little over five overs of play before rain interposed, but he really took effects up a notch following the break, squaring up Kusal Mendis to have him caught at alternate slip and also strangling the set Dimuth Karunaratne down the leg side.
When Dinesh Chandimal drifted at a fullish delivery outside off refuse from Naseem Shah to be inhaled up consummately by Babar Azam at the third slip, Sri Lanka might have been stewing the worst. But Dhananjaya and Mathews survived that storm and made it through to lunch.
After the break still, with the sun having come out, any movement the cleft had seen before in the day was all but gone. This was when Mathews and Dhananjaya got to work, negating whatever Pakistan threw at them. One hundred and twenty runs came in this session.
Mathews was in rich form, playing a couple of luxurious straight drives. Babar Azam compactly flirted with a short-ball strategy but gave up on it within the span of an over after both Mathews and Dhananjaya showed they were perplexed- conceivably down to the ball holding up in the face whenever it was dug in.
As similar, the maturity of the middle session was sailed by baits Abrar Ahmed and Noman Ali. still, with it still being day one in Galle, there was hardly any turn on offer and it was delicate for either of them to make any kind of combined pressure. Mathews set up it fairly easy to rotate the strike, while Dhananjaya took it upon himself to take on the part of the raider. Noman was the unlucky philanthropist of the utmost of this aggression, being taken for four fours and a brace of sixes- the most memorable and elegant inside- eschewal drive over long- out.
also, as the session cracked to a close, the run rate quickened as Mathews joined in on the act, taking Agha Salman for back-to-back boundaries through midwicket; in all, he’d score nine boundaries. He was looking well set for what would have been his 16th Test century when he rowed a cut through to the keeper off Abrar.
It was at this point where Sri Lanka presumably plodded the most away from that early Afridi spell, with Samarawickrama unfit to read Abrar’s variations. Figuring out the direction of the turn off the pitch did not work all that well either considering he was beaten several times on both the inside and the outside edge. But whatever pressure was being erected would constantly be released by the odd loose ball.
At the other end, with Noman largely ineffective, Babar decided to go with Naseem, where formerly more the short ball strategy, as well a variety of different field placements similar as catching mid-ons amid-offs, were trialed to little effect.
But once rain halted play again midway through the final session, Pakistan picked up an alternate wind and produced a fascinating seven-over period before the end of the play.
While Afridi operated from one end, formerly more chancing side movement off the sundeck when earlier there sounded to be none, Abrar was disquieting Samarawickrama. It was still Salman, who had been largely ineffective, who made the pivotal advance, called in to coliseum the final over of the day- his fifth in total- getting Samarawickrama to pop one off club and pad to the right of Imam, who dived full length to his right and ever held on, as Pakistan ended the day the happier of the two sides.
