Noman Ali picked up figures of 7/70 as Pakistan thrashed Sri Lanka by an innings and 222 runs on the fourth day of the second Test match in Colombo (SSC). With this, the visitors clinched the two-match series 2-0 as they defeated the Lankan Lions by a margin of four wickets in the opening game in Galle.
The home side batted first in Colombi and got bundled out cheaply for just 166 in 48.4 overs as Naseem Shah and Abrar Ahmed snared three and four scalps respectively. In reply, opener Abdullah Shafique struck a magnificent double century (201) while Agha Salman remained not out on 132 as the tourists declared their innings of 576/5.
Veteran batter Angelo Mathews remained not out on 63 but the rest of the batting line-up failed miserably against the spin bowling of Ali as the hosts got bowled out for just 188 in their second innings. Naseem bagged three for 44 as Pakistan handed Sri Lanka a humiliating defeat.
Earlier, Saud Shakeel had hammered a brilliant unbeaten 208 in the Galle Test which Pakistan won by a four-wicket margin. For his double ton, Shafique grabbed the Player of the Match award while Salman won the Player of the Series award for scoring 221 runs at an average of 221.00 and picking up three wickets.
Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers from the two-match Test series between Sri Lanka and Pakistan:
1 – Sri Lanka suffered their heaviest innings defeat in Tests at home. They lost the second match of the series by an innings and 222 runs. Previously, they lost by an innings and 208 runs against South Africa at the same venue (Colombo SCC) in 1993.
6 – Prabath Jayasuriya is now tied with Jos Hazlewood at the top for dismissing Babar Azam six times in Test cricket.
201 – Abdullah Shafique registered his highest Test score of 201 in the second game in Colombo (SSC). His previous best of 160* came against the same opposition in Galle in 2022.
87.50 – Saud Shakeel has now struck 875 runs in just 13 innings at a solid average of 87.50 with two centuries and six fifties and the highest score of 208* in Tests.
875 – Shakeel has now smashed the most runs (875) for Pakistan after the first 13 innings. Opening batter Shaifque had racked up 736 runs.
7/70 – Noman Ali recorded the second-best figure of 7/70 for Pakistan against Sri Lanka. He achieved the feat in the second match in Colombo. He surpassed Yasir Shah’s figure of 7/76 in Galle in 2015. Imran Khan is at the top for picking up 8/58 in Lahore in 1982.
132* – Agha Salman also scripted his best score of 132* in the second match of the series. Previously, he scored 103 against New Zealand in Karachi in 2022.
365 – With a victory in the opening game in Galle, Pakistan secured their first Test victory in exactly a year. The last one also came against the same opposition at the same venue in 2022.
38 – Abrar Ahmed has now picked up the most wickets (38) for Pakistan after the first six Tests. Shabbir Ahmed and Zulfiqar Babar are joint-second with 33 scalps.