Player of the Match
Player of the Match

Munib: "Ahhh...! Babar's "definitely" is soo soothing." It's a good note to end on. And on that note, end we do. Thank you so, so much for sticking around with us, sharing the entertaining bits and making the duller ones more fun. We'll see you again in Colombo on Thursday. Take care.

"When you win a match, it gives to confidence. All credit to these youngsters for the way they performed," Pakistan skipper Babar Azam says.

"We lost early wickets, and then the way Saud and Agha played totally changed the game. You need that kind of partnership, and that really pleased me. It's not easy to bat in Galle, but the way Saud's playing is outstanding, and I wish him luck for the next game."

"Once we won the toss, we knew how good their fast bowlers are. We needed to see off that opening spell but we lost a few wickets," Dimuth says. "We bowled really well in patches, but then we start leaking runs. Overall, the bowlers did really well, but we dropped a few catches and that cost us. We have to assess what went wrong and come back again." Plenty of praise for Dhananjaya, too. "We need to support him as his fellow batters."

Dhananjaya de Silva gets a Super Flyer award and some kind of hamper for scoring the most boundaries. Yeah, don't ask me what's in the hamper

Saud Shakeel has been awarded the Player of the Match award "I was just trying to build partnerships, be positive and look for runs," he says. "We are skilled in how to play the sweep and reverse sweep shots, and we knew we needed to execute it well. I'm from Karachi and I'm used to playing a lot of spin there."

We'll be back with the presentations shortly.

Rashid Hassan: "Just saw the WTC standings after this match. How many of you want it to be like this till the very end?India V Pak in the final. "

Yadullah: "So the Galle forte is conquered once again. A great start to the new WTC cycle for the Green Army."

11:06am: There are handshakes out in tge middle and hugs in the dressing room as Pakistan seal their first Test win in exactly one year Their last win came in Galle on July 20 2022, and that barren run has finally come to an end

32.5
6
Jayasuriya to Agha Salman, SIX, finishes it off in style! Comes down the track and drives him over mid-off, the ball sailing all the way for six!

Sachithra: "Sri Lanka needs to hire a review consultant. The reviews they have taken in International games in the recent past have been abysmal." It's some of the worst reviewing I've seen in recent times too, yep

32.4
W
Jayasuriya to Sarfaraz Ahmed, OUT, gets a top edge to square leg, holing out to the man stationed there! It was an uncertain, jittery innings from the Pakistan keeper, and it comes to an end now Fantastic catch in the deep, plucking it low off the ground to give Jayasuriya his fourth wicket

Sarfaraz Ahmed c BKG Mendis b Jayasuriya 1 (12m 10b 0x4 0x6) SR: 10.00

32.3
0
Jayasuriya to Sarfaraz Ahmed, no run, driven back towards the bowler, who drives smartly to collect
32.2
0
Jayasuriya to Sarfaraz Ahmed, no run, skips down the track but gets a leading edge to mid-off
32.1
0
Jayasuriya to Sarfaraz Ahmed, no run, brought the broom out. Great fielding by Madushka at short leg to prevent it going for runs

END OF OVER:
32 | 2 Runs | PAK: 127/5

  • Sarfaraz Ahmed1 (6b)
  • Imam-ul-Haq50 (84b)
  • Ramesh Mendis14-1-62-1
  • Prabath Jayasuriya14-0-50-3
31.6
1lb
RTM Mendis to Sarfaraz Ahmed, 1 leg bye, clipped on the pad and SL are excited, though he was way, way down the crease. They've taken a review, a last Lankan throw of the dice. It's hit him outside off stump anyway
31.5
1
RTM Mendis to Imam-ul-Haq, 1 run, driven to mid-off and this time they come through for the single that gives Imam a half-century. An oasis of calm amidst the top order chaos, is Imam right now. A huge factor in making this chase relatively drama-free for Pakistan
31.4
0
RTM Mendis to Imam-ul-Haq, no run, skips down the track to defend
31.3
0
RTM Mendis to Imam-ul-Haq, no run, defended back towards the bowler
31.2
0
RTM Mendis to Imam-ul-Haq, no run, similar delivery, Imam is solid in defence
31.1
0
RTM Mendis to Imam-ul-Haq, no run, lands on leg and spins away to off sharply

Rajeev Kumar : "Only if srilanka had 50-60 more in the bank. Anything more than 180 and srilanka was in with a chance."

END OF OVER:
31 | 3 Runs | PAK: 125/5

  • Sarfaraz Ahmed1 (5b)
  • Imam-ul-Haq49 (79b)
  • Prabath Jayasuriya14-0-50-3
  • Ramesh Mendis13-1-61-1
30.6
0
Jayasuriya to Sarfaraz Ahmed, no run, defends off the front foot to mid-on
30.5
0
Jayasuriya to Sarfaraz Ahmed, no run, gets a leading edge that ballooned, but lands short of mid-on
30.4
1
Jayasuriya to Imam-ul-Haq, 1 run, whips it to square leg to turn the strike over
30.3
0
Jayasuriya to Imam-ul-Haq, no run, coming down the wicket to every ball now. This time the extra spin hits him on the pad
30.2
1
Jayasuriya to Sarfaraz Ahmed, 1 run, drives to extra cover, awhere the fielding is sharp as he keeps it to one
30.1
1
Jayasuriya to Imam-ul-Haq, 1 run, lots of fielders close in, so Imam hops down the wicket and chips it to cown corner for a single

Rana: "Saud average drop down to 90 now, very sad after winning this game" Not the worst position to be in though

END OF OVER:
30 | 5 Runs 1 Wkt | PAK: 122/5

  • Sarfaraz Ahmed0 (2b)
  • Imam-ul-Haq47 (76b)
  • Ramesh Mendis13-1-61-1
  • Prabath Jayasuriya13-0-47-3
29.6
0
RTM Mendis to Sarfaraz Ahmed, no run, defends to short leg
29.5
0
RTM Mendis to Sarfaraz Ahmed, no run, skips down the wicket and clips the flow full toss to midwicket

Sarfaraz Ahmed comes out to bat

Badar: "Exceptional performance by Saud Shakeel. He batted so smoothly on the pitch where everyone else was on some level in a spot of bother. Really a future of Pakistan Cricket"

29.4
W
RTM Mendis to Saud Shakeel, OUT, and he's gone! Saud Shakeel will not average over 100 between Tests. Wanted to defend but Mendis got it to turn sharply away from the outside edge, kissing it along the way.

Saud Shakeel c †Samarawickrama b RTM Mendis 30 (36m 38b 6x4 0x6) SR: 78.94

29.3
4
RTM Mendis to Saud Shakeel, FOUR, that was sumptupus. Comes down the wicket, opens his body up and executes a gorgeous inside out drive oveer cover
29.2
0
RTM Mendis to Saud Shakeel, no run, gets a big stride out and defends

Pakistan 4th innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st16Imam-ul-HaqAbdullah Shafique
2nd20Shan MasoodImam-ul-Haq
3rd2Noman AliImam-ul-Haq
4th41Babar AzamImam-ul-Haq
5th43Imam-ul-HaqSaud Shakeel
6th5Sarfaraz AhmedImam-ul-Haq
7th6Imam-ul-HaqAgha Salman