The first Test of the two between Pakistan and Sri Lanka was decimated by the rain last week, so when the two sides head to Karachi on Thursday to round off the series, everything will be on the line for the pair of them.
A historic series is at stake here as well as plenty of World Test Championship points so what was always going to be a competitive clash has even more riding on it as we get set for a fascinating conclusion to events.
Pakistan
It is hard to know what to take from the first Test for Pakistan other than two of their better batsmen showed the form that they are in. That is good form too and that might be a significant factor going into this match because although wickets are often the desired commodity in this part of the world, runs will still need to be scored along the way. It wasn’t just the weight of runs that Babar Azam and Abid Ali scored, it was how fluently they scored them.
I would imagine that the Pakistan bowlers will have been disappointed with their output against Sri Lanka in the first match but they deserve a fair amount of slack. It is never easy coming on and off all the while and then they had the moist conditions to deal with when they were on the field. It would be something of a surprise to me if we don’t get a better performance from that unit in this deciding encounter.
Sri Lanka
We probably didn’t find out much more about Sri Lanka in that first game either in truth. Their batting didn’t set the world alight although having to go on and off all the time is never the easiest thing to do. They will probably expect and want more from their experienced players in particular over the course of this match, especially the first innings. If they get that, they could see their progressive form in 2019 continue.
I guess the bigger concern would be that they could only take a couple of wickets in the one day of bowling they did in the first Test. They’ll need to find a way to better that here and that won’t necessarily come naturally because these conditions are probably the least helpful of all Asian wickets. In saying that, if they stay true to themselves and build some pressure the opposing batting attack is known to collapse at times.
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Team News
Usman Shinwari has been ruled out of the match with typhoid so there could be a recall for the leg spinner Yasir Shah after he was surprisingly left out of the first game. The rest of the side is likely to be unchanged.
Sri Lanka are toying with the idea of playing two spinners which could mean a place in the side for Lasith Embuldeniya, in what could be an otherwise unchanged team given that Suranga Lakmal was ruled out of the tour before it began.
Karachi National Stadium
There have been no less than 41 previous matches on this ground although with Pakistan being unable to host cricket in recent times, this is the first one here for some 10 years. Amazingly Pakistan have only lost twice in the previous 41 games so there is no doubt this is a fortress ground for them, or was before the suspension. Sri Lanka played here five times and lost four of them but how much relevance that has remains to be seen.
It has been said that there is more pace in this wicket so the seamers could finally enjoy themselves in this part of the world. Historically first innings runs were massive on this ground and if there is one thing that has stood the test of time and the prolonged absence it is likely to be that so the early stages will be key to the overall outcome.
Betting
As with the first match, I’m not going to get too stuck into this one given that it has been so long since Test cricket was staged here but there is one line which has caught my eye to give us some interest in the contest and that comes in the form of the player performance of Sri Lankan player Dhananjaya de Silva, which looks pretty low to me at 75.5pts.
He is turning himself into quite a good all-rounder at this level. His off spin has always been handy but it is his batting that is really coming to the fore and he has hit first innings centuries in both of his last two Test matches, including the first game of this series. Obviously anything approaching that here has this line covered by some margin but when you throw in his overs with the ball and catching potential and then factor in a second innings with the bat as well, there is an obvious case to back the over here.
Tips
Back D.de Silva’s Performance – Over 75.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
Back him here:
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