Pakistan’s chances of reaching the World Test Championship (WTC) final suffered a massive blow after their 246-run loss against Sri Lanka in the last game of the 2-match series. Pakistan has now slipped to No. 5 on the WTC 2021-23 points table after they had reached the 3rd place when they won the series opener.
Babar Azam and his men had an opportunity to close in on the top 2 with a win in the 2nd Test but Dimuth Karunaratne-led Sri Lanka bounced back and clinched a clinical win on Day 5 of the 2nd Test with spinner Prabath Jayasuriya and Ramesh Mendis ruling the roost.
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Pakistan is now 5th and behind India, who suffered a defeat to England in the rescheduled Birmingham Test in July, on the WTC 2021-23 points table. On the other hand, Sri Lanka has now reached 3rd place after the win over Pakistan. Notably, the island nation also leveled the series against Australia, winning the 2nd Test earlier this year.
There is not much to separate India and Pakistan as the former are 4th with a winning percentage (PCT) of 52.08 while Pakistan has a PCT of 51.85. South Africa is on top of the WTC points table with 71.43 PCT while Australia is standing at the 2nd spot with 70 PCT. South Africa has a good chance of widening the gap when they take on England in a three-match Test series next month.
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The architect of Sri Lanka’s 246-run win was left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya, who picked up the big wicket for Sri Lanka on Day 5 as he trapped Pakistan skipper Babar LBW for 81 right after the lunch in Galle. The left-arm spinner and Mendis managed to trigger a collapse for Pakistan as they went from 176 for 2 to 261-all out, losing their last 8 wickets for just 85 runs.
“Tough game for us, we were trying to win. Credit to Sri Lanka, they bowled really well,” captain Babar said after Pakistan’s defeat in Galle.
WTC POINTS TABLE
1. South Africa – 71.43 PCT
2. Australia – 70 PCT
3. Sri Lanka – 53.33 PCT
4. India – 52.08 PCT
5. Pakistan – 51.85 PCT
6. West Indies – 50 PCT
7. England – 33.33 PCT
