‘Ise bolte hain Babarball’ – Fans react as Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 4 wickets in 1st Test at Galle

Pakistan clinched a convincing victory over Sri Lanka in the 1st Test of the 2-match Test series by four wickets at the Galle International Stadium on Thursday, July 20. Sri Lankan bowlers tried hard, but the target was too short to defend. Pakistan will now enter the 2nd Test with a 1-0 lead.

Talking about the match, after winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Sri Lanka amassed 312 runs in the first innings thanks to Dhananjaya de Silva’s magnificent century and Angelo Mathews’ 64-run performance. When Pakistan came to bat, their top order struggled to produce anything noteworthy, but their middle-order batters held the fort.

In particular, Saud Shakeel, whose magnificent double century helped Pakistan pass the 400-run mark. Agha Salman, who played an 83-run knock, was a good ally to Shakeel. Prabath Jayasuriya claimed three wickets for Sri Lanka, while Ramesh Mendis claimed a fifer by producing a brilliant bowling display.

A brilliant all-round performance by Pakistan

Although it was predicted that Sri Lanka would score big in the second innings, they were only able to score 279 runs and set a target of 131 runs for Pakistan. The Men in Green got off to a nervous start on the fourth day’s evening. Three early wickets were taken by Sri Lanka, and Jayasuriya was once again at the centre of the action. On Day 5, Pakistan had 83 runs left to score.

On the last day’s morning, opener Imam-ul-Haq and skipper Babar Azam got things off to a good start. They still lost 3 wickets as a result of the quick turn that was available, but Imam remained composed, struck a fifty, and led his team to victory alongside Agha Salman. Shakeel was named Player of the Match for his brilliant double century in the first innings, which helped Pakistan to gain a massive lead over Sri Lanka.

Here’s how fans reacted:

https://twitter.com/impkdurg26/status/1681901695125831680?s=20

https://twitter.com/Shaista2054/status/1681901672870875137?s=20

https://twitter.com/shivanand_08/status/1681902982525485056?s=20