Marathon man Shafique stars in Pakistan’s record run chase

Player of the Match Abdullah Shafique receives his award for his match-winning knock of 160*

Mohammad Rizwan and Abdullah Shafique added a valuable 71 runs for the 4th wicket during Pakistan’s record run chase

• Scores 160* out of 344 target score

Abdullah Shafique, the 22-year-old right-hander from Sialkot covered himself with glory as he guided Pakistan to victory in a historic run chase at the Galle International Cricket Stadium yesterday that saw them beat Sri Lanka by four wickets and take a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series. 

No team has chased more than 268 on the Galle pitch and won, and Pakistan did just that, chasing down an improbable target of 344 to win shortly after the tea break brought forward by more than an hour because of a passing shower. 

When the break for rain came, Pakistan were 331-6, 11 away from victory with Shafique unbeaten of a monumental 154 with Mohammad Nawaz on 12. When play recommenced, the pair knocked off the required runs providing an anti-climactic finish to the match.

Shafique riding his luck and given the luxury of three dropped chances at 70, 135 and 151 all off the bowling of Dhananjaya de Silva finished unbeaten on 160 and Nawaz 19 when victory was achieved. De Silva looked a far better bowler with his strict lines and lengths and ability to create chances than the other off-spinner Ramesh Mendis who went for 102 runs without a single maiden.   

Sri Lanka could have pulled the match off in their favour had they not kept on dropping catches. It turned out to be the deciding factor in determining the final result. It does not matter how good your bowlers are or what field you set if the fielders can’t hold onto the catches. The catches that went down proved valuable because the pitch didn’t offer much for the bowlers. It had simply become dead and as long as the batsmen did not take any undue risks, they were able to score.

Sri Lanka were also guilty of having a defensive mindset with five fieldsmen on the boundary for most part of the innings. This kind of ploy did not deter a batsman like Shafique who had scored 160* with only seven boundaries for he showed how easy it was to take singles throughout his innings. In fact, he had 91 singles in his innings.

Shafique understood the pitch perfectly and played an innings accordingly. His was an innings of discipline, stamina and focus and he certainly had learnt a lot from his captain Babar Azam who played a similar knock in Pakistan’s first innings. 

Shafique wore down the Lankan bowling batting for 524 minutes and facing 408 balls hitting only seven fours and a six. His first 50 contained four fours, and since then only three fours and a six. It was a meticulous innings under the circumstances that carried Pakistan home.

Pakistan began the day needing 120 for victory with seven wickets in hand and were firm favourites to win although they had this unpredictable nature of sudden collapses and losing in the past.

However, this young team displayed a positive mindset to take up the challenge of scoring 342 on a fourth and fifth day pitch that unfortunately for the home team did not have the usual wear and tear that is associated with the subcontinent.

Sri Lanka managed to pick up the wicket of Mohammad Rizwan on the stroke of lunch and added the ones of Agha Salman and Hasan Ali in the afternoon, but they failed to prize out the main stumbling block to their chances of pressing for a win – Shafique who held up one end and ensured that Pakistan won.

Left-armer Prabath Jayasuriya who took five wickets in the first innings was the key to Sri Lanka’s chances, but he too was defeated by the blandness of the pitch finishing with a four-wicket haul for nine in the match. What went in Pakistan’s favour was that they had plenty of time on their hands to score the runs and were not pressed to take play risky shots that would have given the opposition the chance to pick up wickets. 

“Where we went wrong was not putting enough runs on the board in the first innings. When you win the toss and bat first, we should have scored 350-400 on the Galle wicket. We got a lead in the second innings but the ball didn’t turn as much as we thought. Pakistan also batted well, better than we thought,” said Dhananjaya de Silva at the post-match press conference.

“There was a big difference in the wicket we played against Australia and the one we played here. Normally on a Galle pitch the fourth and fifth days don’t help the batsmen, but the spinners. It didn’t happen that way. I don’t think we didn’t anything wrong except that we missed a few chances. If we had held onto them the game would have been much tighter.”

“Only Prabath Jayasuriya bowled a consistent line and length. When you leak runs from the other two spinners then it is difficult to keep a tight field and for Prabath to keep things tight. We tried as much to stop them scoring boundaries because most Tests are won by the side that scores the most number of boundaries. If we had good support for Prabath at the other end we could have bowled with a tight field,” said De Silva.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam had words of praise for Player of the Match Abdullah Shafique. “As a youngster, when you prove yourself and perform in tough conditions and difficult tracks it becomes easy. His confidence was high after performing against Australia so he was on a different level. But to perform against quality bowling your confidence goes up. The way he plays, so clean and with his focus he will get many more such knocks. I hope that he becomes one of the best openers in the world.”

“Whatever we planned and prepared we did according to the conditions we were about to face here. The spinners get a lot of help in Galle and later on there is more turn and bounce due to the rough created on the pitch. Happy that the result is with us.”

About Jayasuriya, Babar said: “The way he is bowling, he is their main weapon. We will stick to our strengths and as a batsman we will remain positive. That’s our target.”

The second Test will be played at the same venue starting Sunday.