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Abdullah Shafique is one of the emerging stars who are rising through the ranks to become one of the fine batsmen. The encounter of Abdullah Shafique vs Sri Lanka in first test demonstrated great textbook-style performance. Pakistan was given the target of 342 runs which is never chased in the history of Test cricket. Galle is one of the toughest conditions to bat against the Sri Lankan spinners. The spin quartet of Prabath Jayasuriya, Ramesh Mendis, Mahesh Theekshana, and Dhananjaya de Silva was all set to deteriorate the batting line-up of the Pakistan team. There were lots of eyes on the batting legend Babar Azam but Abdullah Shafique came as a surprise package against Sri Lanka.
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In the first innings, Abdullah failed to demonstrate his potential and soon returned to the pavilion. Shafique was trapped by Jayasuriya on 13 runs in the first innings against Sri Lanka. However, in the second innings performance, Abdullah made history by writing in the cricketing textbook. Sri Lanka is a spectacularly difficult place to bat for the batsmen on the last two days of a Test match. Especially, the Sri Lankan line-up always consists of quality spinners who trouble the best batsmen in the circuit. There was an era when the mystery of Muttiah Muralitharan struggled with the batsmen immensely.
Then came Rangana Herath who did not allow batsmen to settle their feet on the crease. In the meantime, the left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya has arrived on the circuit to cause problems for the batsmen. Jayasuriya took 12 wickets on his Test debut against Australia to scare Pakistan before the first Test.
The Classic Pair of Babar and Abdullah
Pakistan lost Imam-ul-Haq at a total of 87 after the left-handed batsman returned to the pavilion on 35 runs. Azhar Ali did not provide any assistance to Pakistan and failed in the second innings following the score of 6 runs. Pakistan was 104-2 and there was an uphill task of chasing the score of 342 runs. Both textbook cricketers Abdullah and Babar started stabilizing the chase and things started to get in the groove for Pakistan. Abdullah with his rock-solid defense was playing the Sri Lankan spinners elegantly.
With the solid defense, he made sure the scoring rate does not decrease and kept hitting decent boundaries. The Abdullah Shafique vs Sri Lanka contest in the first Test witnessed Abdullah astonishingly calm and composed in the critical circumstances. If we look at the facts, Abdullah is only 22 and belongs to the land which is famous for struggling combination of batsmen in the modern era. Do you desire to find out which spinner has the highest chance of getting the most number of wickets in the first Test? If yes, then you should go to the best online cricket sportsbook sites in the UK to know that information.
Abdullah Shafique vs Sri Lanka in First Test: Rise of a Superstar
Automatically, there are no big hopes from the new batsmen arriving in the circuit from Pakistan. However, the emergence of Abdullah following his phenomenal knock against Sri Lanka has changed the paradigm and perspective of cricket pundits. In the Pakistan Super League, Abdullah showed terrific potential by scoring 251 in the league. Furthermore, he stabilized the opening position of Lahore Qalandars after scoring with an average of 22.81. The fielding skills of Shafique appeared as a surprise package when he took an amazing catch to help Lahore play the final.
Even though Abdullah Shafique showed promise in the domestic circuit, his statistics were not appealing to grab him a place. However, there is one guy who believed in the class of Abdullah despite the backlash of the cricket pundits. Not only Misbah ul Haq, but the Pakistani modern-era batting legend Babar Azam has also praised Abdullah. According to Babar, Abdullah is a complete textbook cricketer.
Abdullah kept the important rotation of strike and did not lose his resilience following the fall of wickets from the other end. The mystery spin bowling of Jayasuriya created many chances for Sri Lanka. There was a point when Sri Lanka started feeling desperate for the wickets. At that moment, Sri Lanka targeted the other end of the wicket. The plan of captain Dimuth Karunaratne became successful as wickets started falling from the other end. Jayasuriya removed Agha Salman and Mohammad Rizwan in the space of 21 runs.
Sri Lanka made a terrific comeback to get its command back in the game. Abdullah made sure to not lose his cool in the toughest of circumstances. Turning pitch, spectacular bowling and support of the home crowd, nothing could rattle Abdullah. The defense was unbreakable and runs were coming.
The Final Moments of Abdullah Shafique vs Sri Lanka Encounter
Pakistan was cruising towards victory. Thanks to Mohammad Nawaaz, who filled a void of a great utility all-rounder. As only less than 20 runs were remaining, a heart-wrenching moment arrived for the teams of both fans. Abdullah played an aerial shot and gave a catch straight to the fielder. However, the fielder dropped the catch in the pressure moments. Following the climax, Abdullah did not take any risks. Finally, Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by 4 wickets, credit to the spectacular knock of the emerging batsman. All the criticism was stopped. The social was praising the rise of a new star. It seemed Pakistan has found a new batting marvel after Babar Azam in the form of Abdullah Shafique. Not only he did play the tremendous 160 runs knock against Sri Lanka to guide Pakistan to a historical win. He also made his way into the history books of Test cricket.
In the huge Test history of more than 150 years, Abdullah became one of two batsmen from Pakistan to face 400 balls in the fourth innings of a Test match. The Abdullah Shafique vs Sri Lanka encounter has grabbed the attention of cricket fans and made them love every bit of Test cricket. Do you want to find out the odds of Pakistan winning this Test series against Sri Lanka following the Galle Test? If yes, then go to the best online cricket sportsbook sites in the UK to know the percentage of chances Pakistan has of winning this Test series.
