Pakistan win first Test after thrilling contest

Rex Clementine in Galle

The Sri Lankan fans and players were pinning their hopes on Prabath Jayasuriya to spin them to a famous victory like another left-arm spinner Rangana Herath had done 14 years ago, against the same opponents at the same ground. But this time it was not to be so as Pakistan knocked off the required 83 runs on the final morning although they lost six wickets and there were some scary moments.

Sri Lanka were licking their wounds after yesterday’s tensed four wicket loss. It was a case of what if? What if they had not put Saud Shakeel down twice. What if the stumping chance of Naseem Shah hadn’t gone begging? What if someone hanged around with Dhananjaya de Silva in either innings to post a decent total? What if Sri Lanka had scored 50 runs more? What if Asitha Fernando had played?

Pakistan have a habit of committing hara-kiri when chasing small targets. Indications are nothing has changed and they remain vulnerable during tricky run chases.

Defeat hurts, but the fact of the matter is it was a terrific Test match and the margins were small. Those new ball spells by Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi on the first morning was as good as seeing Wasim and Waqar in their peak.

Pakistan’s tactics were quite interesting too. Their attacking instinct, having borrowed a leaf out of England’s book, saw them going at five runs an over in the first innings. They vowed to do the same in the second essay and nearly paid the price. While England’s style of play is exciting, you need to also have the skill to succeed. Not sure whether that’s Pakistan’s strength.

Sri Lanka’s former Head Coach Mickey Arthur is now the Director of Cricket in Pakistan. Seems he’s passed on too much information. Some fans maybe wondering how Mickey can do this to us after the send off we gave him two years ago at this very ground.

No prizes for guessing Man of the Match of the game. Saud Shakeel turned the game on its head. From 101 for five, Pakistan were staring down the barrel but eventually ended up getting 461 and a first innings lead of 149 did the trick.

Shakeel doesn’t have the left-hander’s elegance. He’s rather an unconventional batter with an usual defence. His strength is his footwork and so cleverly he negated Prabath Jayasuriya, who rarely misses out on a five wicket haul in Galle.

When the tail was wagging, Sri Lanka were content to dismiss the tail-ender rather than target Shakeel and that came back to hurt them.

Fielding will be one subject that will be discussed over the next few days. Sri Lanka was one of the first international teams to employ a Fielding Coach in Trevor Chappell, the infamous underarm bowler. Chappell’s action created so much of a stir across the Tasman sea one Butcher in Wellington put up a board outside his shop saying, ‘Cheaper than Chappell’.

Chappell though was a fine coach and our fielding standards were top notch at that time. Not too sure about our Fielding Coach choices since then. We have gone all the way to South Africa to hire one whereas someone like Upul Chandana, who has been a loyal servant of our cricket is warming the benches. May saner counsel prevail.