SSC turns Noman’s land as Pakistan crushes Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: Noman Ali took seven wickets to lead Pakistan’s rout of Sri Lanka by an innings and 222 runs to clinch the second Test inside four days at Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) and sweep the series 2-0 on Thursday.

The left-arm spinner took the first seven wickets and fast bowler Naseem Shah took the final three to bowl Sri Lanka out for 188 in the evening session in Colombo. Noman returned career-best figures of 7-70 in his 15th Test to hand Pakistan its biggest Test win over Sri Lanka and fourth overall in innings victories. Sri Lanka suffered its heaviest Test defeat at home.

“Everyone stepped up and showed hunger to win this series,” skipper Babar Azam said.

Pakistan, which won the opening Test by four wickets, declared its first innings on 576-5 after just two overs in the morning session with a lead of 410 runs. Opener Abdullah Shafique stood out with his 201 in an innings that saw three century stands, including a 124-run partnership with Agha Salman, who smashed an unbeaten 132. Runs came quickly for Pakistan’s batters, whose approach had a touch of “Bazball” - the aggressive style devised by England’s coach Brendon McCullum and skipper Ben Stokes. “Being aggressive was part of the plan, it’s something we had discussed before coming here,” said Azam. “We wanted to play positive cricket. So, all the credit to the boys. It’s not easy to play spin here but they played very well.” Shafique was named man of the match for his maiden Test double ton. Salman was man of the series for his 221 runs, including a 177-run stand with double-centurion Saud Shakeel in the first match in Galle. Sri Lanka started strongly with an opening stand of 69 until Noman bowled Nishan Madushka for 33 with his first ball of the day and ruled the roost thereafter.

Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne fell for 41 after lunch and Noman soon sent back Kusal Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal before Dhananjaya de Silva attempted to resist in his brief stay with Mathews.

De Silva fell for 10 when he was caught out by Abrar Ahmed while attempting a big heave over long-on.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 166 & 188 in 67.4 overs (A Mathews 63*, D Karunaratne 41, N Ali 7/70, N Shah 3/44) lost to Pakistan 576/5 decl.