Watch: Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq leapt full length to his right at short-leg to dismiss Sadeera Samarawickrama on the last ball of Day one of the first Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Galle today (July 16).
Subscribe to the Wisden Cricket YouTube channel for post-match analysis, player interviews, and much more.
Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat first on what was a rainy morning in Galle. Nearly a session of play was lost as only 65 overs were bowled through the day.
Shaheen Afridi, who was making his Test comeback after exactly one year, ran through the Sri Lanka top order, taking three wickets in his first eight overs to reduce the hosts to 53-3.
Angelo Mathews and Dhananjaya de Silva then stitched a century partnership for the fifth wicket, followed by another strong 57-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Silva and Samarawickrama, which was ended by the heroics of Imam on the field.
Samarawickrama went back to fend off a ball by Agha Salman which turned and bounced more than he anticipated. It hit high on his bat as he tried to turn it behind square but couldn’t get it under control.
[breakout id=”0″][/breakout]
Imam, who was standing at short-leg, leapt full length to his right to catch the ball that was going away from him, leading to the Pakistan fielders rushing in and mobbing him.
The dismissal helped Pakistan break the solid-looking sixth-wicket partnership that was threatening to take Sri Lanka to a position of safety.
It also ended up being the last ball of day one as Sri Lanka finished on 242-6 with Silva holding fort at one end, not out on 94. For Pakistan, Afridi was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3-63, while Abrar Ahmed, Naseem Shah, and Salman shared a wicket each amongst themselves.
