Sri Lanka: With Sri Lanka losing three wickets and being 55 runs behind Pakistan at lunch on the fourth day, Pakistan had a stranglehold on the first Test match at Galle.
When Noman Ali and Abrar Ahmed shared the wickets on the fourth morning, Galle's reputation for being a spin-friendly venue—especially at the back end of a Test—began to shine through. In the first innings, Pakistan depended on their pace bowlers for early breakthroughs.
After completing a few overs in the last bit of sunlight the day before, Dimuth Karunaratne and Nishan Madushka gave Sri Lanka a strong start.
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The strike didn't rotate much; the first single wasn't taken until the tenth over and the 39th run. Nevertheless, Sri Lanka picked up a boundary in each over and appeared to be in control despite some probing lines from Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah.
However, the moment Abrar entered the field, a stray drive from Karunaratne caused Agha Salman to grab a spectacular catch diving low at midwicket.
Even if the run rate slowed, Madushka and Kusal Mendis remained composed throughout the innings, seeing off the quick bowlers and appearing quite confident against spin.
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However, two strikes by Noman in the final half-hour changed the course of the game. Before a beautiful delivery spinning away from Angelo Mathews at first slip, he first trapped Kusal Mendis in front.
While Madushka performed well at the other end as he drew closer to his half-century, Sri Lanka is running out of time to salvage this game as Pakistan is sniffing its first Test victory in a year.
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