GALLE: Opener Abdullah Shafique starred with an astounding century to cement his side’s position in the game as Pakistan raised 222 for three wickets while chasing the 342-run target set by Sri Lanka in the first Test, here on Tuesday.
Abdullah played a glittering knock of 112 not-out and remained firm on the crease at the end of the fourth day’s play with 120 more runs left to chase.
Skipper Babar Azam, on the other hand, combined excellently with Abdullah as the former shone with a half-century to build a solid 101-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Meanwhile, Babar reached another milestone as he completed his 3000 Test runs during his magnificent 55-run knock.
Pakistan had a flourishing start to their chase of a massive 342-run target on a ruthless spin track after wrapping up the hosts’ second inning on 337.
The opening pair of Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah provided a solid start of 87 runs to bolster Pakistan’s second inning.
Ramesh Mendis gave Sri Lanka a much-needed breakthrough when wicket-keeper Niroshan Dickwella dislodged the bells to stump out Imam on 35.
Whereas, experienced batter Azhar Ali remained unimpressive for the second time in the match as Prabath Jayasuriya got rid of him cheaply on 6.
Jayasuriya, however, took his second wicket to soothe Sri Lanka as he bowled out Babar when Pakistan were looking to dominate Sri Lanka scoring 205 runs for the loss of just two wickets.
Pakistan will resume their batting on the final day with centurion Abdullah Shafique and wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan on the crease and seven wickets in hand to chase another 120 runs to seal the victory.
Earlier, the overnight pair of Dinesh Chandimal and the tail-ender Prabath Jayasuriya started the day’s play and survived just four more overs to add eight runs to the Sri Lankan total on a new day.
Naseem Shah castled the stumps of the tail-ender to leave Chandimal stranded on the 90s but remained the top-scorer for his side with his blistering 94 including five boundaries and two sixes.
Kusal Mendis and Oshada Fernando played crucial knocks of 72 and 64, respectively, to take their side towards a competitive total on a menacing spin track.
For Pakistan, Mohammad Nawaz starred with the bowl with his five-wicket haul while Yasir Shah grabbed three wickets. Hasan Ali and Naseem Shah took wicket apiece.
Meanwhile, Pakistan raised 218 runs in their first inning after a phenomenal century knock by the skipper whereas Sri Lanka scored 222 in their first inning.
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