Pakistan lose both openers after restricting SL for 222 on day one
Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka hoped to make it count big, with a big first innings total in Galle. But the Pakistan bowling attack, led by the 2021 ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year – Shaheen Afridi – were too hot to handle for the hosts.
Meaningful scores were few and far for Sri Lanka, with Afridi starting the proceedings for the visitors taking the all-important wicket of skipper Dimuth Karunaratne. Afridi would take three more wickets in the form of Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella and Maheesh Theekshana, ending with figures of 4/58.
Yasir Shah (2/66) and Hasan Ali (2/23) were also massively impressive, as Pakistan restricted Sri Lanka to a modest total of 222.
