Pakistan stun Sri Lanka in record chase to win series

Younis Khan led the chase with his splendid batting performance for Pakistan

Pakistan chased down a record target of 380 runs to seal the Test series against Sri Lanka by 2-1. They won the final match by seven wickets with Younis Khan leading the chase from the front with his terrific 171 not out. This also gave the visitors their first series win in Sri Lanka since 2006.

Younis knocked off a brilliant century, playing a smooth game and steering the course of the match. Shan Masood at 125 wasn’t far behind. The partnership between the two made the course of the game change quickly from being in anyone’s favor to leaning towards a Pakistan win.

On the Lankan side, Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal set up a partnership that gathered 117 runs. But Pakistani bowlers did not let the Sri Lankans get comfortable at the crease, and Mohammed Imran unleashed hell as he took five wickets. Sri Lankan bowlers weren’t as efficient, but they took a significant wicket early in the day of Masood.

Younis was awarded the Man-of-the-Match while Yasir Shah was declared the Man-of-the-Series for his excellent bowling.

At 382/3, this goes into the record books as Pakistan’s best fourth innings score, beating their previous record of 343/3 versus South Africa in 2010. Pakistan now jump to No. 3 in the ICC Test rankings.

Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, said: “It is such a big victory. Younis said that the pitch was not doing much for the bowlers. Shan Masood the way he played took the game away from Sri Lanka. After the Younis-Masood partnership, it was easy for us. The youngsters are doing well for the team.

“This series means a lot to me after losing two or three series' in Sri Lanka. Sarfraz in the first innings is the main architect of this win. Asad Shafiq was brilliant in the first Test. After playing so well against Zimbabwe at home, we have a lot of confidence in the ODIs. Sri Lanka are tough competitors at home but we can win the ODIs.”

Younis, who almost single-handedly revived the entire Pakistan effort, said: “It is not that I train much, but I am involved in everything. I always want to stand up for the team. I play according to the situation. Yesterday when we were fielding, we knew we could chase 400. Credit to Shan Masood, he was amazing. This is a very good bunch of players. Misbah and I keep them calm, they play well under pressure. Yasir Shah has been impressive throughout the series. Imran bowled really well.”

The Sri Lankan captain acknowledged that he was disappointed in the way the match rolled out. “It was disappointing. I thought we were sitting pretty when he had 377. This was a really good game after both sides were even. The Pakistan bowlers were brilliant in the second innings. Pakistan deserved to win and they played better cricket than us. It turned a little bit but the seamers did not have anything in the last couple of days.”

Sri Lanka clearly felt the absence of its two key players. As Mathews put it, “We don't have Mahela and Sanga, we will have to take on the challenge and move on. I am trying to contribute both with the bat and ball. The one-day team will be a fresh team. It has been a great Test series for both teams.”

Yasir attributed his success to his hard work, saying, “I have worked a lot on my action with Mushy bhai, worked on my googly and made my action repeatable. My target was to take 20 wickets.”

There were moments in the match which gave a deja vu feeling of Pakistan in Sharjah in 2014. The Pakistan side won a much-deserved victory.