Prabath Jayasuriya Archives

Prabath Jayasuriya spins web to steer Sri Lanka to victory over New Zealand

GALLE: Prabath Jayasuriya took five wickets to steer Sri Lanka to a 63-run victory over New Zealand on the final morning of the first Test here on Monday.

Set a target of 275 to win, the Black Caps were bowled out for 211 less than 15 minutes after play resumed from overnight, with Rachin Ravindra top-scoring on 92.

Ravindra had finished on Sunday waging a lone battle on a sharply turning pitch in Galle, where the tourists had lost all four of their previous Test encounters.

His knock was the highest score by a New Zealander on the ground, eclipsing Ross Taylor’s 89 in 2019.

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But the slender path to victory he had opened was snapped shut when Jayasuriya trapped him lbw while trying to defend on the back foot, having only added a single run to the overnight total.

Prabath Jayasuriya, who took nine wickets across the match and finished the second innings 5-68, then brought the match to an end when he bowled rookie quick William O’Rourke for a duck.

O’Rourke, 23, had impressed for New Zealand with eight match wickets, including his second five-wicket haul from just three Test in the first innings.

Left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel claimed 6-90 in Sri Lanka’s second innings, the best figures by a New Zealand bowler in Sri Lanka since Daniel Vettori’s 6-64 in Colombo in 1998.

The second and final match of the series will be held at the same venue from Thursday.

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Babar Azam slips but Saud Shakeel makes big leap in ICC Test Rankings

DUBAI: Pakistan captain Babar Azam slipped two spots to fifth in the latest ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings, updated on Wednesday, while Saud Shakeel enjoyed a massive surge at the back of a record-breaking double century.

Pakistan’s hero with the bat amid their four-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the first Test, Saud Shakeel got the reward of his heroics in the Galle Test as he rose 12 spots to 15th and a new career-best rating on the latest rankings for Test batters.

Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Babar Azam, who was close to reach the summit in the Test batting rankings, dropped two spots after a below-par individual performance in the aforementioned Test.

His scores of 13 and 24 resulted in him losing 27 rating points and down to the fifth spot in the rankings.

Besides the duo, All-rounder Agha Salman shot up 17 places to 58th overall for batters, while young seamer Naseem Shah (up one place to 44th) and inexperienced spinner Abrar Ahmed (up 12 spots to equal 45th) found new highs on the list for Test bowlers after excellent performances with the ball against Sri Lanka.

Notably, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, who got a fortunate push to the top of the Test batting rankings, again managed to cling to the summit with 883 rating points but the race for bragging rights and the No.1 spot for batters further intensifies.

Australia right-hander and former No.1 ranked batter Marnus Labuschagne rose three places to second overall after his century at Old Trafford, while England trio Joe Root (up three spots to third), Harry Brook (up two places to 11th) and Zak Crawley (up 13 places to 35th) also made some good ground.

After losing their first Test at home narrowly, Sri Lanka have a moment to cherish as their lethal left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya rose seven places to seventh overall on the list for bowlers following his seven wickets for the match.

READ: Saud Shakeel breaks an all-time Test record during second Sri Lanka Test

Babar’s ton upsets Sri Lanka as Pakistan raise 218 in first inning

GALLE: National team skipper Babar Azam shone with an astounding century to propel the team out of the crisis as Pakistan raised 218 runs in the first innings before Sri Lanka managed 36/1 at the end of the second day’s play in the first Test, here on Sunday.

The skipper marked his seventh Test hundred and reached the milestone of 10,000 international runs during his crucial knock of 119 runs before he was dismissed by right-arm spinner Maheesh Theekshana in a leg-before wicket.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan spinner Prabath Jayasuriya wreaked havoc on Pakistan’s batting line as he took his third consecutive five-wicket haul, after his phenomenal Test debut in the last match against Australia grabbing six wickets in each innings.

Apart from Babar, the rest of Pakistan’s batters remained helpless in the face of the Sri Lankan spin attack as the team was struggling on 148/9 before a phenomenal 70-run last-wicket partnership between the skipper and the tail-ender Naseem Shah.

Babar remained the major runs contributor in the gritty 10th wicket stand while Naseem put up a strong resistance not to offer his wicket.

Sri Lanka started their second inning with a four-run lead and were off to a solid start before Mohammad Nawaz struck in the second last over to remove the skipper Dimuth Karunaratne on 16.

Earlier in the day, Pakistan underwent complete batting chaos after resuming with the overnight score of 24/2. Jayasuriya got rid of Azhar Ali on just the third ball as the play resumed on the second day with a half-an-hour delay.

Wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan and skipper Babar Azam then put up some resistance and made a partnership of 41 runs before Rizwan fell prey to Ramesh Mendis on a total of 64.

The next three wickets fell in quick successions as the left-arm-spinner struck down the debutant Salman Agha on meagre 5 runs, before taking back-to-back wickets of Mohammad Nawaz and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Yasir Shah combined briefly with Babar before he fell prey to Theekshana on 18 after Lunch while Hasan Ali was sent back to the pavilion by Ramesh Mendis on 17.

For Sri Lanka, Jayasuriya remained the leading wicket-taker with five wickets, while Mendis and Theekshana grabbed two wickets apiece with Kasun Rajitha taking a scalp.

Earlier, Sri Lanka finished the opening day of the first Test in a relatively comfortable position dismissing the opening pair of Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq cheaply after their batters could only muster 222 in the first inning.

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Mendis, Karunaratne keep Sri Lanka in the hunt after Jayasuriya’s six-for

GALLE: SriLanka top-order batter Kusal Mendis and skipper Dimuth Karunaratne scripted an astounding reply from the home side with brilliant half-centuries before Prabath Jayasuriya restricted Australia to 364 by finishing with the second-best figures by a Sri Lankan on Test debut.

Resuming at an overnight score of 298/5, Australia could only manage to add 66 runs on the second day despite their overnight centurion Steve Smith’s unbeaten knock of 145.

Smith, who ended his century drought with a magnificent 104* on the opening day, added 41 of them as the tailenders had no answer to the strong bowling display by the hosts. He remained unbeaten with a magnificent 145 off 272 deliveries, laced with 16 boundaries.

For Sri Lanka, Jayasuriya led the way on his debut with six wickets, while Kasun Rajitha bagged two. Ramesh Mendis and Maheesh Theekshana, on the other hand, made one scalp each.

The hosts were off to a poor start in response to Australia’s 364 as they lost their opener Pathum Nissanka cheaply at a combined score of 12. The right-handed batter scored a mere six off 25 deliveries.

Following the early disaster, Sri Lanka’s dynamic duo of Mendis and Karunaratne bolstered their side to a commanding position with an astonishing 152 runs partnership for the second time.

The pair appeared solid and were looking to carry their way till the stumps but Mitchell Swepson had other plans as he trapped the skipper Karunaratne in his legs in the 55th over. He remained the top-scorer for his side with 86 off 165 balls, laced with 10 boundaries.

Mendis then joined hands with the veteran all-rounder Angelo Mathews and put on an unbeaten 20-run partnership to keep the second Test evenly poised as Sri Lanka finished at 184/2.

Wicketkeeper batter Mendis scored an unbeaten 84 off 152 balls with the help of nine boundaries, while Mathews scored six.

For Australia, Mitchell Starc and Swepson made one scalp each.

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