Shafique steers Pakistan to win over Sri Lanka in 1st test

Galle: Abdullah Shafique scored an unbeaten 160 to lead Pakistan to a record run chase and a four-wicket victory on Wednesday in a series-opening cricket test that went ahead despite a political and economic crisis in Sri Lanka. His 408-ball innings contained six boundaries and a six in an innings, although he did get some reprieves.

Shafique was lucky to survive an LBW appeal when he was on four. He was dropped on 135 when Dhananjaya de Silva missed a return catch and again on 151 as Pakistan closed in on the win. A rain delay after lunch on Day 5 slowed down Pakistan's push for victory with 11 runs still required, but it really was only a matter of time.

The previous highest successful run chase at Galle was Sri Lanka's 268 against New Zealand in 2019. Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne regretted not having enough runs in the first innings. "We won the toss and batted first and we should have scored much more than the 222 we managed," he said.