With a stunning 4-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the opening Test on Thursday (July 20), Pakistan has made its mark in the third cycle of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC 2023-25).
Pakistan completed its target of 131 runs in the opening session of the final day at Galle. The loss of three quick wickets by the visitors set the tone for their chase on a tense note. By dismissing Abdullah Shafique and then sending Shan Masood back, Prabath Jayasuriya gave Sri Lanka the first advantage, leaving Pakistan reeling at 36 for 2.
On the last day, Pakistan was 4 down for 78 runs after captain Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq added 31 runs to the overnight total. However, Prabath Jayasuriya struck again to dismiss Azam for 24.
When Imam and Saud Shakeel added 43 runs for the fifth wicket, their team had all but won the match. Though Shakeel got out for 30, Imam finished his fifty and led his team to victory.
Before this, Sri Lanka’s first innings total of 312 runs was mostly made up of Dhananjaya de Silva’s 122 while Angelo Mathews had scored 64. In response, Pakistan was in trouble at 101 for 5, but they managed to amass 461 runs thanks to Saud Shakeel’s first-ever double century in a Test, as he amassed 208*.
Sri Lanka achieved 279 runs in the second innings with Dhananjaya de Silva top-scoring with 82 as they were in a deficit of 149 runs. For Pakistan spinners, Abrar Ahmed and Noman Ali took 3 wickets each.
Updated WTC 2023-25 Points Table After Pakistan Beats Sri Lanka In 1st Test In Galle
This win has enabled Pakistan to open its account in the WTC 2023-25 cycle in style. Pakistan and India are occupying the top two spots after starting their respective WTC campaign with a win.
Reigning world champions Australia are third with 22 points while England is in the fourth spot with 10 points.
| Pos | Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Drawn | NR | Points | PCT |
| 1 | India | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 100 |
| 2 | Pakistan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 100 |
| 3 | Australia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 61.11 |
| 4 | England | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 27.78 |
| 5 | West Indies | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Sri Lanka | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Bangladesh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | New Zealand | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | South Africa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |