Recent Match Report - Sri Lanka vs Pakistan 2nd Test 2022

Sri Lanka 315 for 6 (Chandimal 80, Oshada 50, Nawaz 2-71) vs Pakistan

The openers put on 92 together, Dinesh Chandimal made 80, and Niroshan Dickwella went to stumps on 42 not out, as Sri Lanka strode to 315 for 6 for the day. On a flat Galle surface that will take some days to properly wear, this was neither a commanding total, nor a modest one.

While spinners found turn, it wasn't the rapid variety that causes collapses. The quicks found some movement off the surface, but only while the seam was hard. It was a batting-friendly day. And if anything, Sri Lanka may be kicking themselves for losing one wicket too many.

Of Pakistan's bowlers, Mohammad Nawaz seemed the likeliest to take wickets, even if he was somewhat wayward at times. Nauman Ali, the other left-arm spinner, was more consistent, and took the wicket of Angelo Mathews, who was playing his 100th Test. But Pakistan's bowlers didn't have a lot to work with - the turn off the pitch still mostly slow, even if the occasional ball erupted off the pitch.

Sri Lanka may reflect they were unfortunate to lose two wickets to such deliveries. The balls that got Oshada Fernando (from Nawaz), and Mathews (from Nauman), turned and bounced more than most deliveries had during either batter's stay. Then there was the dismissal of Kusal Mendis, which came from one of those run outs where the bowler does well to get a hand to a straight drive and the non-striker doesn't get their bat down quickly enough. Kusal had only faced 10 balls, and was out by just a couple of frames.

It was Chandimal, the form batter in the Sri Lanka side, who pushed Sri Lanka forward better than anyone else, however. Two of his first three boundaries boundaries were streaky - an inside edge past the stumps off Yasir Shah, and a outside edge past slip against Naseem.

But eventually, things settled, and Chandimal was in his confident-but-measured self, finding gaps through cover when he went for the big drives, working the singles square on either side of the pitch, but rarely employing the sweep apart from when he was looking for a boundary. He got to fifty off the 99th ball he faced, and hit a couple of sixes off Yasir Shah soon after - one over deep square leg when Yasir sent him a long hop, and the other over wide long-on, when he got down on one knee to clatter Yasir.

As with several of Sri Lanka's batters, Chandimal was out against the run of play, when he had been under little pressure from the bowlers. He ran down at Nawaz, got nowhere close to the ball, tried to launch him over cow corner anyway, and ended up just giving a leading edge out to point, where Fawad Alam gobbled a straightforward catch.

Mohammad Nawaz picked up two wickets on day one•AFP/Getty Images

Oshada, Sri Lanka's other half-centurion, had also attacked the spinners in the morning session. He used his feet to hit three sixes in the arc between midwicket and long-off, although the first hour had largely been defined by watchfulness and defence. He got to his half century, raised his bat, and was out moments later, edging a big-turning Nawaz delivery behind, as he sought to defend.

His was the first of three top order wickets to fall for 28 runs. Kusal was out from that unlucky run out off the ball that turned out to be the last of the first session. Soon after resumption, a Dimuth Karunaratne reverse sweep found backward point, and Sri Lanka's captain was out for 40, again despite the lack of serious pressure upon him. This, though, came in Yasir's best spell of the day, in which he also tested Mathews and Chandimal.

While Sri Lanka did not put on a century stand, they had three that surpassed 50, and only one that was worth less than 24. Dickwella's busy 42 not out off 43, in which he hit five boundaries and a six, perhaps edged the day for the hosts, though there's plenty of work to be done by the lower order.

At stumps, Sri Lanka were dreaming of a total in excess of 400. Pakistan one south of 350.

Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo's Sri Lanka correspondent. @afidelf

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/recent-match-report-sri-lanka-vs-pakistan-2nd-test-2022/?feed_id=1566&_unique_id=62ddd3879856e

Match Preview - Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, Pakistan tour in Sri Lanka 2022, 2nd Test

Sri Lanka would have felt they were on track for victory at the end of day three of the first Test, until Abdullah Shafique and Co swept the win from under them in the last two days. But even Sri Lanka reflected that theirs was a far-from-complete performance. If you bat first in Galle, you have to score "350 to 400 runs" to control the game, Dhananjaya de Silva had said after the match. They had made 222.

Then, in the second innings, only Prabath Jayasuriya seemed a wicket-taking threat for the majority of Pakistan's 127.2 overs at the crease, and Sri Lanka lost a match that seemed in the bag.

It wasn't quite a perfect Test for Pakistan either, but in Shafique, they now have a Test batter that right now is putting up bigger numbers than even Babar Azam. Their weakness, like Sri Lanka's, is the bowling attack, which is a strange thing to say about a Pakistan side.

Their seamers are excellent on pitches that offer them something, but in Galle, no significant reverse swing has been seen for three Tests running. Aside from Mohammad Nawaz, their spinners weren't especially consistent in the second innings either.

As always, with these teams, there is the problem of them not playing remotely as expected from one match to another. On the surface, it seems as if Pakistan should ride on the momentum of a monumental chase, and put substantial pressure on the hosts.

But series between these teams frequently surprise. Maybe, in this one - and this would be the biggest surprise of all, given the way the first Test went - both teams will take all their chances.

(Last five matches, most recent first)

Sri Lanka LWLWD
Pakistan WLDDW

Angelo Mathews will be playing his 100th Test. It has been quite a career. He has batted all day to save a Test away from home. He has hit plenty of big innings in the company of the tail, most memorably his 160 at Headingley that helped turn a dire situation into a victory. He has also had a public fight with a coach, and plenty of minor humiliations, and has spent months away from the side owing to leg injuries, but has also been part of some of Sri Lanka's greatest Test victories.

He only gets picked for Tests now, which means this might be his last international until March next year. A big contribution would be the perfect way to celebrate the occasion.

Abdullah Shafique, just 22 years old, has an average of 80, and a great fourth-innings knock to his name. There are plenty of batters who have 12-year Test careers without an innings as impressive as the 160 not out he just played in Galle. Shafique did it in his 11th innings. What was most impressive about the knock was that it wasn't a gamble.

He backed his defence, saw out 408 balls, even if he was occasionally - but not outrageously - fortunate to survive. And in partnerships with batters who have played a lot more cricket than him, Shafique seemed like the more accomplished player.

It is Galle, so it will turn. And it is July, so at some point, the weather will impose itself. It has been nine years since there has been a draw at this venue, so a result is always likely.

Sri Lanka have got Pathum Nissanka back in the squad, but because Oshada Fernando has scored runs, he might retain his position. Meanwhile, the injured Maheesh Theekshana has been ruled out. So Dunith Wellalage, the left-arm spin-bowling allrounder, is likeliest to make a debut.

Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Oshada Fernando, 2 Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Dhananjaya de Silva, 6 Dinesh Chandimal, 7 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 8 Ramesh Mendis, 9 Dunith Wellalage, 10 Prabath Jayasuriya, 11 Asitha Fernando

Pakistan may bring in left-arm spinner Nauman Ali for Shaheen Shah Afridi, who is out with a knee injury. At times in the first Test, they seemed to have too many quicks, given the state of the pitch. Afridi had taken four wickets in the first innings of that match, but Pakistan may be going in with a better combination this time.

Pakistan (possible): 1 Abdullah Shafique, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Babar Azam (capt), 5 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 6 Agha Salman, 7 Mohammad Nawaz, 8 Nauman Ali, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Yasir Shah, 11 Naseem Shah

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/match-preview-sri-lanka-vs-pakistan-pakistan-tour-in-sri-lanka-2022-2nd-test/?feed_id=990&_unique_id=62dc47b7dca79