Babar-Azam. (Photo Source: Twitter)
Pakistan gave a great account of themselves against Sri Lanka in the first Test in Galle. The Babar Azam-led side showed great resolve on a tricky batting surface to win the match by four wickets on Day 5. Saud Shakeel was awarded Player of the Match for his phenomenal knock of 208* in Pakistan’s first innings, which helped the away side take a formidable lead of 149 runs.
At the start of Day 5, Pakistan were just 83 runs adrift of their target of 131 runs and had seven wickets to spare. The pitch provided enough assistance for the spinners, but the likes of Prabath Jayasuriya and Ramesh Mendis just didn’t have enough runs to play with. The tourists did lose the wickets of Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, and Sarfaraz Ahmed but eventually won the game with four wickets in the bank.
During the post-match presentations, an unexpected incident occurred. Pakistani captain Babar Azam went to receive the match winner’s cheque. He held the cheque and posed for the cameras. However, fans noticed that there was a major error in the cheque as the amount of money in writing differed from the amount written in figures. The amount in words was ‘US Dollars Two Thousand Only’ while the amount in figures was US$ 5000.
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— Out Of Context Cricket (@GemsOfCricket) July 20, 2023
SLC apologise for prize-money error
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) issued an apology for the embarrassing mistake, clarifying that the winning team received US dollars 5000 in the form of prize money.
“We express our regret for the error that was caused in the ‘presentation cheque’ awarded to the winner of the concluded 1st test match between the two teams. The post-match presentation awards are prepared by the Ground Rights Holder for Sri Lanka’s inbound tours, which in this case is ITW Consulting, which has acquired the rights for the period of 2023–27.
“Nevertheless, Sri Lanka Cricket, as the governing body of the game, will take total responsibility for the mishap and wish to promise the cricket-loving public that in the future, steps will be taken to ensure that such ‘errors’ are avoided,” SLC said in a media statement.
The second Test begins on Monday, July 24, and will be played at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo.