The cricketing relations that Sri Lanka has enjoyed with Pakistan was well summed up by the Editor of this newspaper, who described Sri Lanka’s painful loss to Pakistan in the T-20 World Cup at Lord’s as ‘Losing to a friend is no pain’ in his editorial two days after the final.

Veteran cricket administrator Neil Perera speaks highly of the efforts of a former Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board Abdul Haffez Kardar, whom he says played a pivotal role in helping Sri Lanka gain Test status. According to Perera, after Sri Lanka had been repeatedly denied full membership of the ICC, he had stated during a meeting of the International Cricket Council that the founder members of world’s governing body – Australia and England – were non-supportive of Sri Lanka.

Since the day the country gained Test status, in 1981, Pakistan has remained a strong ally and it was in Pakistan that Sri Lanka played its first overseas Test. In fact, to date, Sri Lanka has played more Test matches against Pakistan than any other country.

Of the 34 matches, Sri Lanka has won seven Tests with Pakistan winning 15 and 12 games ending in draws. Of those 15 defeats, Sri Lanka has lost seven games by an innings.

Sri Lanka’s lowest total in Tests is also against the Pakistanis, where they were bowled out for 71 runs at the Asgiriya International Cricket Stadium as Waqar and Wasim bowled the 28 overs that were required to bowl the hosts out with the former claiming six wickets and the latter four.

Their second lowest total in Tests also came against the Pakistanis when they were bundled out for 73 runs, again at Asgiriya 12 years later with Mohammad Asif and Abdul Razzaq doing the damage this time, with five and four wickets respectively.

Inzamam-ul-Haq is the leading run scorer in Tests between the two countries with his 1559 runs coming at an average of 59:96 with five 100s and seven 50s.

Sanath Jayasuriya is second in the list with 1490 runs in 17 Tests at 51:37 with four 100s, including a double hundred and six 50s. They are followed by two stalwarts of Sri Lankan cricket, Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga, who have scored 1475 runs at 42:14 and 1210 runs at 33:61, respectively.

Of de Silva’s 20 Test hundreds, eight have been scored against various Pakistani attacks and he’s easily the leading century maker in Tests between the two nations. His first Test hundred was also scored against them when he made that famous 122 at Faisalabad, coming in at number seven where he batted for over eight hours. De Silva was unbeaten on 93 on his 20th birthday and the following morning, he reached his maiden Test century, hitting the legendary Imran Khan for a six. That was the first sign of what was to follow in a stellar career and among those who were fortunate to witness that achievement were Aravinda’s parents, the late Sam de Silva and his mother Indrani.

The highest wicket taker in Tests between the two countries is Muttiah Muralitharan, who has 80 wickets in 16 Tests against Pakistan at 25:46, followed by Wasim Akram, who has 63 wickets in 19 Tests at 21:26. Waqar Younis is third in the list with his 56 wickets in 13 Tests coming at an average of 22:73.

Imran Khan’s record against the Sri Lankans with the ball is phenomenal. He’s the joint fourth highest wicket taker with Chaminda Vaas with his 46 wickets coming at an amazing average of 14:63 in 10 Tests.

Sri Lanka’s first Test win against Pakistan came in the year 1986 when they won by eight wickets at the CCC.Until then the Tests between the countries had been dominated by the Pakistanis, who had won five of the seven matches that had been played until then with two matches ending in innings wins.

There were three debutants for Sri Lanka in that 1986 CCC Test with Roshan Mahanama, Don Anurasiri making their debuts, but it was Kosala Kuruppuarachchi, the 21-year-old left arm seamer who gave Sri Lanka a dream start as he captured five wickets to bowl out the tourists for 132 runs in their first innings. A gritty 77 by Man of the Match Arjuna Ranatunga enabled Sri Lanka to make 273 and gain a valuable lead of 141. In their second innings, Pakistan fared badly again as Ravi Ratnayeke picked up five for 37, leaving Sri Lanka a target of 32 runs which they chased with eight wickets in hand.

Waqar, Wasim jolt Sri Lanka

The first of the three Test series in 1994 at the P. Sara Stadium was comprehensively won by Pakistan, despite Aravinda de Silva making a hundred. The second Test scheduled at the SSC was cancelled due to a post election curfew. The teams turned up at the Asgiriya International Cricket Stadium for the final Test, where Sri Lanka were handed an innings and 52 run defeat after Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis troubled the batsmen with their pace and swing.

Sri Lanka’s 71 all out is their lowest total in Tests against any country, as Wasim with four wickets and Waqar with six, ran through the Sri Lankan innings with just one batsman – wicketkeeper Pubudu Dassanayake managing double figures.

Waqar claimed five wickets in the second innings to finish with a match bag of 11 wickets as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 234 runs in their second innings to suffer a humiliating defeat inside three days that called for the sacking of the captain and other senior players.

Sri Lanka were in Pakistan for the return series the next year and started off in disastrous fashion when they lost the first Test at Peshawar by an innings and 40 runs. But they fought back in dramatic fashion, winning the remaining two Tests to record a great come back.

Early that year, Arjuna Ranatunga’s side had recorded their first Test win abroad when they beat New Zealand in Napier and they showed remarkable improvement in the second Test after going down tamely in the series opener. The Test match marked the return of Aravinda de Silva to the national team after his successful stint with English county, Kent. Aravinda, however, started off in poor fashion, as he collected a second ball duck, the first duck of his illustrious career after playing over 70 Test matches.

But the star batsman returned to form with a match winning century in the second innings and enabled Sri Lanka to square the series with a 42 run win.

Muttiah Muralitharan was named Man of the Match after picking seven wickets in the Test, but the contributions of de Silva and a first innings hundred by Hashan Tillekeratne went a long way in the tourists turning the tables.

It turned out to be a memorable series for them as having squared the series they went onto seal the series by winning the third Test in Sialkot by 144 runs.

Over the years, some bowlers have had such an effect on the Sri Lankan batsmen that virtually facing them have been nightmares. Sir Richard Hadlee had such an impact on the Sri Lankan batsmen in the 1980s that the term ‘Hadlee Phobia’ was commonly used. Later, South African great Alan Donald terrorized the Sri Lankan batsmen in the mid 1990s, but the influence Wasim Akram had on the Sri Lankan players and the embarrassment he caused was greater than anyone else’s.

Akram has taken two hat-tricks in Test cricket and on both those instances, the Sri Lankan players were at the receiving end. What’s even stranger is that he completed the feat in successive Test matches. The first one came in Lahore, his home ground during a preliminary round match of the Asian Test Championship. As the match ended in a draw, Sri Lanka qualified for the finals of the tournament in Dhaka at the expense of India and Wasim once again stamped his authority by removing Avishka Gunawardene, Chaminda Vaas and Mahela Jayawardene in successive balls as Pakistan went onto win by an innings and 175 runs. For his double hat-trick, Wasim was named Man of the Series.

Arjuna Ranatunga was sacked as captain in 1999 and the selectors overlooked him for the Test and ODI tour of Zimbabwe as they picked a young side. But he was back in the team for the series in Pakistan and proved his worth in a thrilling run chase at Rawalpindi.

Sri Lanka were comfortably placed in the first Test as they took a first innings lead of 171 runs. They were set a target of 220, but were in trouble at 146 for five. Two runs later, they lost Ranatunga as a Waqar Younis delivery cracked Ranatunga’s fingers, causing multiple fractures forcing him to retire hurt. Wickets kept falling and when the eighth wicket fell at 177, Sri Lanka still required 43 runs with only Muttiah Muralitharan left.

Ranatunga walked into bat at this point and together with Romesh Kaluwitharana guided the team through while facing a probing spell by Waqar. Ranatunga only made 29 not out, but his runs were a goldmine as Sri Lanka won with two wickets to spare. Ranatunga had to return home without taking any further part in the tour and was given a huge reception when he returned home.

Wasim makes a point with the bat

Pakistan returned to Sri Lanka in 2000 for a three Test series and in the first Test at the SSC, the hosts looked to be well in control when they posted 273 runs in their first innings and reduced the tourists to 176 for nine. But Wasim, together with Arshad Khan added 90 runs for the last wicket.

Wasim made 78 and Arshad’s contribution in the partnership was a mere nine runs.

Then when Sri Lanka batted, Wasim swung the game in Pakistan’s favour with a five wicket haul as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 123 in their second innings. Chasing a target of 133, Pakistan lost early wickets and were 89 for five, but Wasim was promoted to number five and he remained till the end with an unbeaten 20 to ensure Pakistan got home with five wickets to spare.

In the next Test in Galle, he joined Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Younis Khan as the fourth centurion in the Pakistani innings as the tourists posted a massive 600 for eight declared and helped Pakistan record a massive innings and 163 run win.

Sri Lanka had faired badly in the inaugural edition of the Asian Test Championship, but in the second edition of the now defunct four nation tournament, they won the championship beating Pakistan in the final at Lahore.

After dismissing the hosts for 238 runs in their first innings, Sri Lanka posted a mammoth 528 thanks to Kumar Sangakkara, who scored 230 runs. It was a remarkable effort because having kept wickets, the left-hander came to the crease in the very first over of the Sri Lankan innings when Marvan Atapattu fell for a first ball duck and batted for eight long hours showing plenty of steel.

Pakistan were bowled out for 325 runs in their second innings as Vaas and Muralitharan picked up four wickets each. This win marked the tenth successive Test victory for the Sri Lankans. Their previous nine wins had come against India, West Indies, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

The first Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in 2004 in Faisalabad was hanging in the balance after Sri Lanka made 243 in their first innings and Pakistan responded with 264. There had been speculation about Jayasuriya’s future after he had struggled with the bat and as he has done time and again, whenever there had been pressure on him, the veteran responded in style.

From 309 for three, Sri Lanka slumped to 337 for eight losing five wickets for 28 runs. From thereon, Jayasuriya added 102 runs for the ninth wicket with Dilhara Fernando in a partnership that swung the game back in Sri Lanka’s favour. Jayasuriya was 164 not out when the eighth wicket fell, but went on to post 253, before being last man out in a solo effort. Fernando’s contribution during the 102 run stand was a mere one run as Jayasuriya went for the boundaries. In all, he hit 33 boundaries and four sixes.