Even though their top order struggled while chasing a paltry winning target of 131 at Galle on Wednesday, Pakistan were confident that they would win the first test match against Sri Lanka and take the series.
After taking a commanding first-innings lead of 149 runs in the first test of the two-match series, Babar Azam’s team was in a position to win the match and the series.
By bowling out Sri Lanka for 279 in their second innings, the spin trio of Noman Ali (3-75), Abrar Ahmed (3-68), and Agha Salman (2-39) further solidified their status as the dominant side.
After scoring a hundred in the first innings, Dhananjaya de Silva scored 82 in the second, Nishan Madushka produced 52, and Ramesh Mendis contributed 42 runs to the total for the home team before they were all out.
Pakistan’s score at the end of day four was 48-3, and in order to take a 1-0 lead in the series, they will need to score 83 runs when play begins on Thursday.
At that point in the game, Babar had reached six, while the opener, Imam-ul-Haq, had reached 25.
Prabath Jayasuriya, the left-arm spinner for Sri Lanka, dismissed Abdullah Shafique and Shan Masood, and then he ran out nightwatchman Noman Ali to at least keep it from being an easy win for Pakistan.