Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, 1st Test 2022 – Who Will Win Today’s Match?

Betting Tip –  Sri Lanka will win the first Test against Pakistan at Galle.

• Sri Lanka have an in-form spin trio of Ramesh Mendis, Prabhat Jayasuriya and Maheesh Theekshana.
• Sri Lanka are well-adjusted to the Galle pitches, having played two matches against Australia at the venue.
• Sri Lanka thumped Australia in the most recent fixture by an innings and 39 runs.

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Match Prediction – SL vs PAK, 1st Test 2022 – Who will win today’s match?

Pakistan are on the tour of Sri Lankan island for a two-match Test series as a part of the World Test Championship. The two teams will meet in the first Test at Galle International Stadium from July 16.

The series is especially important for Pakistan, who will be eyeing a full 24 points towards the championship. They currently occupy the fourth place with 52.38 points percentage, having won three and drawn two Tests in the cycle.

Sri Lanka have won 54.17% of points this WTC cycle with the latest win against Australia in Galle pushing them above Pakistan. They have won four games and lost three in this cycle. Their most recent series against Australia resulted in a 1-1 draw.

Total Encounters – 55

Sri Lanka Preview

Sri Lanka are coming off a historic win over Australia in the previous fixture by an innings and 39 runs. It was their first ever innings win over the Aussies, built on the back of Dinesh Chandimal’s sublime double hundred and debutant Prabath Jayasuriya’s 12 wickets in the match.

Sri Lanka have faced some player availability issues in the last few weeks due to injuries and illness. Pathum Nissanka was the latest member to test Covid-19 positive. Oshada Fernando is likely to replace him at the top if he doesn’t recover. Asitha Fernando could also replace Kasun Rajitha after recovering from Covid-19.

Betting Tip – Who will be the best Batsman for Sri Lanka?

Dinesh Chandimal will be the top batter for Sri Lanka. Riding high on his career-best innings of 206*, this technically brilliant player will be one to watch out for. In his overall career, Chandimal has scored over 4600 runs at an average of 42 with 13 centuries.

Betting Tip – Who will be the best Bowler for Sri Lanka?

Prabath Jayasuriya will be the top bowler for Sri Lanka. The left arm spinner had an incredible debut in the previous game, picking 6 wickets each in two innings. His FC numbers are excellent too, with 245 wickets in 63 matches at 25.08 apiece.

Sri Lanka Probable Playing XI: Pathum Nissanka/Oshada Fernando, Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Ramesh Mendis, Maheesh Theekshana, Prabath Jayasuriya, Kasun Rajitha/Asitha Fernando 

Pakistan Preview

Pakistan would want to leave the disappointment of their home series defeat to Australia behind them. Having drawn the first two Tests, they were outplayed by the Aussie bowling attack in the third game, facing a 115-run loss.

Pakistan have most of their playing XI locked with only a couple of spots needing some thought, mainly in the bowling unit. How they balance the pace and spin departments will be interesting.

Betting Tip – Who will be the best Batsman for Pakistan?

Babar Azam will be the top batter for Pakistan. One of the best in the business, Azam has scored 2851 runs from 40 Test matches at an average of 46. He has six hundreds and 21 fifties to his credit. He’s coming off a magnificent 88 in the warm-up game.

Betting Tip – Who will be the best Bowler for Pakistan?

Shaheen Shah Afridi will be the best bowler for Pakistan. The left arm fast bowler has a pretty good record in Test cricket, having claimed 95 wickets from 24 Tests at an average of 25.08. Shaheen has four five-fors to his name. 

Pakistan Probable Playing XI: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali/Yasir Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali

Betting Tip – Who will be the Man of the match?

Prabath Jayasuriya is the top contender for the ‘player of the match’. The pitches in Galle are good for spinners and the left arm spinner is coming off a 12-wk haul. Ramesh Mendis and Angelo Mathews are other candidates. From Pakistan, Babar Azam and Azhar Ali are top choices.

Pitch and Weather Conditions

The Galle International Stadium has always been very helpful for the spinners. Batting was extremely difficult in the first Test of the recent series but was considerably easier in the second. Expect spinners to dominate still.

The first two days of the Test could have some showers, with cloudy forecast and over 50% chance of precipitation. The weather shouldn’t affect the game much.

Toss Prediction

Out of 39 matches played at Galle, 21 have been won by the team batting first. Batting gets tougher as the game progresses so expect either side to elect batting first.

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