'They probably don't know how much happiness they have given us by playing here': Pakistan make triumphant Test return with win over Sri Lanka

Pakistan celebrated the return of Test cricket for the first time in over 10 years with an emotional 263-run win over Sri Lanka in the second and final Test in Karachi, taking the series 1-0. It was just a 14-minute and 16-ball formality for Pakistan on the fifth morning to grab Sri Lanka's last three wickets, dismissing them on their overnight total of 212 in the second innings. The writing was very much on the wall when Pakistan set a daunting 476-run target for the tourists on Sunday and had them staring at defeat on 212-7 at close of play. Befittingly it was Naseem Shah who at 16 years and 307 days became the second youngest bowler to take five wickets in a Test innings. The youngster bowled with fire to finish with 5-31. Fellow Pakistani Nasim-ul-Ghani - a left-arm spinner - holds the record as the youngest bowler with a five-wicket haul in a Test innings. Ghani completed his feat against the West Indies at Georgetown at the age of 16 years, 303 days. "Naseem is a special talent and we can build on our bowling attack in the years to come," said winning captain Azhar Ali. Naseem was only six when international cricket was suspended in Pakistan following an attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in 2009. Pakistan were forced to play all their home matches at the neutral venues of UAE, before improved security allowed them to host various limited over series in the last four years. A lot of coaxing and cajoling went behind organising the series, which marked Pakistan's first Tests on home soil since the 2009 militant attack on Sri Lanka's team bus in Lahore. Top Sri Lankan cricketers opted out of a limited-overs series in Pakistan earlier this year and agreed to travel for the test series only after promised watertight security. "Definitely we needed this performance. Special thanks to the Sri Lankan team and the Sri Lankan board from the bottom of our hearts" for touring Pakistan, Azhar Ali said at the presentation ceremony. "They probably don't know how much happiness they have given us by playing here ... It was a special series for us and boys played special cricket." Sri Lankan skipper Dimuth Karunaratne praised Pakistan. "We dominated the first two days and then they batted very well and put pressure back on us and outplayed us. We couldn't build pressure with the ball despite taking a lead of 80," he said. "They batted really well and we lost our patience as well." The first Test of the series in Rawalpindi marked the rerturn of Test cricket in Pakistan, but it was spoiled by bad weather. The final day began in a dramatic manner when Naseem dismissed Lasit Embuldeniya off the very first ball, catching his gloves on the way to wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan. From the other end leg-spinner Yasir Shah had Oshada Fernando caught in the slip for his overnight score of 102. Oshada's 180-ball knock had 13 boundaries. Naseem wrapped up the match by trapping Vishwa Fernando with the fifth ball of the next over, triggering jubliation among the Pakistan players who all played their first Test series at home. It is Pakistan's first series win at home against Sri Lanka since 1992. Abid Ali, who smashed a century in the drawn Rawalpindi Test and another in Karachi to finish the series as its top scorer, was adjudged player of the match as well as of the series. Abid was one of the four centurions in Pakistan's second innings, only the second instance when each of the top four batsmen got a hundred in the same innings. The win lifts Pakistan to third in the World Test Championship table with 80 points. Pakistan got 60 points from the win and 20 from the first Test draw. India (360) and Australia (216) are currently first and second. Nine teams are competing in the Championship, with the top two contesting the final in June 2021.