On an epic day of Test Cricket, Galle cricket ground witnessed the heroics of Pakistan’s young superstar in the making, Saud Shakeel. The 27-year-old cricketer turned out to be a nightmare for the Sri Lankan team. From 101-5 to 461 all out, Saud Shakeel played an out-of-the-skin innings, ensuring Pakistan was back in the game.
Saud Shakeel’s unbeaten innings of 208 runs is going to be the highlight of this test match, making sure that Pakistan gets a healthy lead in a rain-affected test match. Also, Saud Shakeel became the first Pakistani player to score a double century in Sri Lanka.
Top Performer Of The The Day
Saud Shakeel steals the day with his batting, showing the much-needed resilience which Pakistan desperately wants after losing 5 wickets at the score of just 101. The young middle-order batter who plays for Sindh in domestic was a perfectly cooked product to play such type of this innings with a strong mindset and positive intent. He contributed 208 runs in the first innings with a strike rate of 57.6.
To provide stability to Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman’s contribution came at the right time, scoring 83 runs in just 113 balls, including 9 fours and 1 six, at a strike rate of 73. He got out against the run of play and was stumped on the delivery of Ramesh Mendis. Agha played selflessly in a partnership of 177 runs with Saud Shakeel.
Although the top performers were expected to be from the host’s side, Ramesh Mendis was the one from the Sri Lankan team who managed to deliver a noticeable performance on a day dominated by the visitors. He picked up a fifer and took the crucial wickets of Shan Masood and Agha Salman, along with three wickets of tail-enders.
Advantage To The Visitors
After getting the top 5 wickets of Pakistan, Sri Lanka was the relaxed side, but as the partnership between Salman and Saud Shakeel started to build, Sri Lanka must be very disappointed to miss the golden opportunity to get all the wickets of Pakistan at a very low total.
However, Pakistan has different plans and shoots the another 149-run lead over the hosts, making Pakistan the favorite to win this test. The interesting fact, which is quite amazing to know, is that Pakistan has scored at a run rate of 3.8, which seems to resemble the Bazball approach adopted by yet another team.
What To Expect On Day 4
The match currently stands at 70-30 in favor of the visitors, and credit goes to one man, Saud Shakeel. However, to establish complete dominance in this test match, Pakistan would have to take 2-3 wickets in the first hour of day 4. They should also ensure not to let Sri Lanka build yet another partnership like the one between Angelo Mathews and DD Silva in the first innings of this match.
Sri Lanka would be a bit happy to survive the end overs of the day without losing any wickets, but they must be looking for a collective effort from the team and also a big partnership from any of their batters. To win this match, Sri Lanka has to achieve a lead of not less than 220-250 runs. Otherwise, there’s a high possibility that Pakistan will go 1-0 up in the series.
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