The

Sri Lankan cricket team The Sri Lanka men's national cricket team, ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජාතික ක්‍රිකට් කණ්ඩායම, ta, இலங்கை தேசிய கிரிக்கெட் அணி) nicknamed The Lions ...

toured Pakistan in March and April 1974, playing eight first-class matches, including two against

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. Sri Lanka did not then have

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

status. At the time it was Sri Lanka's longest tour.'' Wisden'' 1975, pp. 972-73.

The team

* Anura Tennekoon (captain) * Ranjit Fernando (vice-captain) * Dennis Chanmugam *

Ajit de Silva Ginigalgodage Ramba Ajit de Silva (born 12 December 1952), or Ajit de Silva, is a former Sri Lankan international cricketer, who played four Test matches and six One Day Internationals for Sri Lanka, bowling accurate slow left arm spin. Inte ...

* Somachandra de Silva *

David Heyn Peter David Heyn (born 26 June 1945) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played in 18 unofficial Test matches from 1966 to 1976, and two One Day Internationals in the 1975 World Cup. Heyn is widely regarded as one of the best cover point field ...

* Sridharan Jeganathan * Lalith Kaluperuma * Duleep Mendis *

Tony Opatha Antony Ralph Marinon Opatha (5 August 1947 – 11 September 2020) was a Sri Lankan cricketer. A right-arm medium pace bowler, he played five One Day Internationals at the 1975 and 1979 Cricket World Cups. Educated at St. Peter's College ...

Gajan Pathmanathan Gajanand Pathmanathan (23 January 1954 – 29 August 2012) was a Sri Lankan first-class cricketer, active in Sri Lankan cricket prior to their elevation to Test status in 1982. He studied at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, playing fir ...

* Nihal Samarasekera * Jayantha Seneviratne * Bandula Warnapura *

Sunil Wettimuny Sunil Ramsay de Silva Wettimuny (born 2 February 1949), or Sunil Wettimuny, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played three One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two team ...

The tour

Sri Lanka began with a seven-wicket victory over

Sind Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

, and a drawn match against

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

. In the first four-day match against Pakistan, at

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, Pakistan made 302 for 9 declared and 420 for 7; Sri Lanka made 369. Two more drawn matches followed, against the North West Frontier Province Governor's XI and Pakistan Universities, before a 124-run victory over Pakistan Western Railways, and a draw against Pakistan Under-19. In the second match against Pakistan, at

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

, Pakistan made 216 and 224, and Sri Lanka made 265 and 158, giving Pakistan victory by 17 runs. Tony Opatha was the highest wicket-taker on either side in the two matches against Pakistan, with 12 wickets at an average of 19.83. Zaheer Abbas was the highest run-scorer, with 251 runs at 62.75.

Aftermath

Sri Lanka's performance in the two matches against Pakistan led the President of the

Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan national cricket team. A member of the International Cricket Counc ...

, A. H. Kardar, to urge the

International Cricket Conference The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. It was founded as the ''Imperial Cricket Conference'' in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England and South Africa. It was renamed as the ''International C ...

to consider promoting Sri Lanka to Test status. When Sri Lanka played their first Test in 1982, six of this touring team (Ajit de Silva, Somachandra de Silva, Kaluperuma, Mendis, Warnapura and Wettimuny) were in the side.

References

External links

Sri Lanka in Pakistan: Mar/Apr 1974
at

Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

Sri Lanka in Pakistan 1973-74
at CricketArchive 1974 in Sri Lankan cricket 1974 in Pakistani cricket Pakistani cricket seasons from 1970–71 to 1999–2000 {{Pakistan-cricket-tour-stub