Sri Lanka vs Pakistan: De Silva, Mathews lead hosts’ fightback after jittery start on Day 1 of Galle Test

Galle: Sri Lanka staged a fightback after being reduced to 54-4 in the first session and reached 242-6 at stumps on day one of the first Test against Pakistan at the Galle International Stadium on Sunday. Only 65.4 overs of the scheduled 90 were possible due to rain and play will get underway early on day two in a bid to make up for the lost time. Vice-captain Dhananjaya de Silva put on an inspired show as he posted a back-to-the-wall 94 and more importantly shared two crucial partnerships to help Sri Lanka recover. De Silva was scheduled to bat at No 6 wouldn’t have expected to be called upon in the first session of the game but found himself doing just that after Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah bowled terrific spells with the new ball. Afridi hadn’t played any Test cricket after hurting his knee in July last year and on his comeback accounted for three top-order wickets to peg Sri Lanka back. Naseem also troubled the batsmen with genuine pace and was unlucky not to pick up more than one wicket. Afridi became the 19th Pakistan player and the fourth quickest among fast bowlers from his country to the 100-wicket milestone when he had opening batsman Nishan Madushka caught behind.

1️⃣st Test wicket: Tom Latham lbw in Abu Dhabi, 2018
1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣th Test wicket: Nishan Madushka c Sarfaraz Ahmed in Galle, 2023

Congratulations @iShaheenAfridi on completing a 💯 of wickets 👏#SLvPAK pic.twitter.com/w2dlfmgnkv

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) July 16, 2023

After the early damage by the seamers, de Silva added 131 runs with Angelo Mathews for the fifth wicket. Mathews looked uncomfortable against pace earlier on in his innings but once the spin came on he settled down and went on to post his 39th Test half-century. He was dismissed for 64 when he nicked one to the wicketkeeper off the bowling of leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed. “It was tough batting earlier on,” Mathews said. “We had to be watchful but we were able to cash in after some time. Dhananjaya (de Silva) in particular was superb. He put the loose balls away and batted positively. “I haven’t seen that many bowlers bowling so well on this wicket. It shows what a terrific quick Shaheen is. There weren’t too many loose balls and it was high quality bowling.” De Silva was then involved in a 57-run stand with Sadeera Samarawickrama for the sixth wicket. The wicketkeeper was dismissed in the last over of the day for 36. De Silva dominated the spinners and used his feet to smash nine fours and three sixes during his entertaining 94 that came off 133 deliveries. Pakistan had picked three spinners but they proved expensive and sent down too many loose balls easing the pressure that the fast bowlers had created. Naseem and Afridi were called back for second spells but were not as dangerous with an old ball. Pakistan head coach Bradburn bemoaned letting the home side off the hook after his team’s initial success. “Our bowlers took early advantage from the moisture on the pitch. Very proud of the way Naseem and Shaheen went about things,” Bradburn said. “We started the day well. We made early inroads and very pleased with the way we finished the day. We weren’t 100 per cent happy with the way we went about things in the middle stages.” The match is both teams’ opening game of the World Test Championship. The second Test will be played at Colombo’s Sinhalese Sports Club ground starting on 24 July.