Pakistan will be looking to claim its first away series win against Sri Lanka since 2015, as it plays against them at the Sinhalese Sports Club on Monday for the final game of the 2-match Test series.
SRI LANKA VS PAKISTAN HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
Both teams have played against each other in 58 Test matches so far. Pakistan has won 22 of those, while Sri Lanka has won 17. 19 matches ended in a draw.
SRI LANKA VS PAKISTAN LIVE-STREAMING AND BROADCAST
Fans can catch the live action of this match on the Sony Liv app or the Sony Ten Sports Network.
SL VS PAK TEAM PREVIEWS
SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka will be very disappointed with the outcome of the 1st Test match as they were completely outplayed by the opposition. They now have a couple of days to get their act together and come back stronger in Colombo.
The batting was one of the brighter spots in an otherwise dull performance by the hosts. Despite losing the top-order batsmen early in the first innings, Sri Lanka managed to reach a respectable total of 312, thanks to a scintillating century by all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva.
His form spilled over to the second innings too, where he followed up with a gritty half-century, albeit for a losing cause. Angelo Mathews and Nishan Madushka played well but the team will expect them to score more runs here. The same will be expected of skipper Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, and Sadeera Samarawickrama, all of whom failed to convert their start into a big inning.
Talking about the bowling, the spinners did a good job with Ramesh Mendis and Prabath Jayasuriya picking up 13 of the 16 Pakistani wickets that fell. The seamers, Kasun Rajitha and Vishwa Fernando have struggled to find the right rhythm.
However, the biggest improvement must be seen in fielding, as they dropped a few straightforward chances, and the ground fielding was pretty shoddy too.
PAKISTAN
Pakistan made a perfect start to the fresh cycle of the World Test Championship, and registered their first Test win in exactly a year, with their last win coming against Sri Lanka themselves.
The team will now look to continue with the winning momentum and register a clean sweep.
After a shaky start in the first innings, Pakistan was stabilized by Saud Shakeel, who scored an unbeaten double-century. He was well supported by Agha Salman as the duo put up a 177-run partnership for the 6th wicket to set the tone for a big total.
Imam Ul-Haq, who fell cheaply in the first inning, made amends in the second by scoring a half-century and ensuring that his team faced no hiccups while chasing a modest target of 133 in the 4th inning. However, the other top and middle-order batsmen, including Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, and Sarfaraz Ahmed will need to play well here, to shoulder the scoring responsibility.
Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was back in the Test team after a long gap, was excellent, ending the match with 5 wickets. He was well supported by Naseem Shah, who picked up the important wicket of De Sliva in the first inning. Abrar Ahmed has continued with his brilliant form with the ball, claiming 3 wickets in each innings.
He will look for support from Nauman Ali and Agha Salman at the other end.
SL VS PAK BETTING TIPS
Pakistan was clinical in its performance in the first match and we expect them to continue with good form. The superior bowling attack makes Pakistan very dangerous at all stages of the game Sri Lanka on the other hand will need to make plenty of improvements and we do not see that happening so soon.