Pakistan bowling coach Waqar Younis congratulated fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi for his first Test five-wicket haul. The left-armer achieved the milestone on Day 2 of the 2nd Test against Sri Lanka at National Stadium in Karachi on Friday. Afridi dismissed Oshada Fernando (4), Angelo Mathews (13), Dhananjaya de Silva (32), Dilruwan Perera (48) and Lahiru Kumara (0) to complete his fifer. On the back of his feat, Sri Lanka were bundled out for 271, in reply to Pakistan’s 191 in the first innings, taking a lead of 80 runs.
After Afridi’s spectacular performance,Younis took to Twitter to praise the youngster. “Not bad from a 19year old…Hard work always pay off…Congratulations on picking up your first of many 5 wickets haul… @iShaheenAfridi #PAKvsSL,” he wrote on Twitter.
Shah has so far played seven Tests, in which he taken 24 wickets. By the close of second day’s play Pakistan had wiped off 57 of the deficit for no loss but still trail by 23 runs with all 10 wickets in hand and three days to play. Opener Abid Ali — who became the first batsman ever to hit a debut hundred in both Test and one-day international in the first match in Rawalpindi — was unbeaten on 32 and Shan Masood on 21 not out.
The first Test in Rawalpindi ended in a draw due to bad weather, leaving both teams to fight it out for the series win in Karachi. The series is part of the ongoing World Test championship with nine teams competing. The top two teams will play the final in June 2021.
Pakistan – Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Rizwan, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah
Sri Lanka – Dimuth Karunaratne, Oshada Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Dilruwan Perera, Vishwa Fernando, Lasith Embuldeniya, Lahiru Kumara
