THERE were no heroics and not even a slight inclination from Pakistan to attempt a run chase after Sri Lanka declared on the final morning, adding 60 more runs to their overnight 420-5, leaving Pakistan just well over two sessions to stave off being bowled out.

Knowing their own fallibility it was doubtlessly a saner and safer option for Pakistan to occupy the crease rather than taking up the challenge and go for those 302 off 67 overs left in the day’s play.

Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal and Parasanna Jayawardene in their match-saving effort in the second innings on a pitch offering no help to bowlers had proved earlier the importance of being earnest in a situation as demanding as they were facing here at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

Pakistan must have rued the reversal of fortunes as the unbroken sixth-wicket stand between Mathews and Jayawardene continued to frustrate them in a match which at one time was well within Pakistan’s clutches, and yet seemed slipping away.

But this is how Test cricket is played.

One moment you are up above in the sky and in the next down in the dump. Not much for Pakistan to blame themselves though because the changing character of the wicket has a lot to do in the match going into the final day.

‘When you are in all day the bat never feels heavy. It is only when you are in and out quickly that it weighs,’ said the former England captain Colin Cowdrey once.

Pakistan having closed the shutters after the loss of the first wicket made sure that their batsmen were not in and out quickly and lose the plot which for the first three days had moved along smoothly as planned and scripted.

With their heads on the block it was important to show up and be counted. Amid criticism against Mohammad Hafeez, he had been brought into the Test side on the right-handed batsman’s rich ODI form despite recent failures at the Test level.

The 33-year-old top-order batsman had not much to show in the first innings of this match nor his highest score of 22 in the last eleven Test innings merited a place for him in the team. But on Saturday, he did manage to handle pressure without much fuss and in fact with remarkable ease and alacrity to craft a handsome 80 not out featuring flourishing cover drives and cuts.

Ahmed Shehzad did not disappoint either. Playing in his debut match after a successful stint in limited-overs games, the young opener did well after a jittery start. Composed and disciplined, he steered the ball past fielders with a lot more confidence than he had in the first innings to post a well-earned maiden half-century in Tests.

Run chase in the last innings of a Test seldom ends in a smile, that is what records show and that is what experts believe. Though the outcome here was face saving for both Sri Lanka and Pakistan, they will now enter the second Test in Dubai, knowing well that this series will not be a piece of cake for either even if they had a slight inkling about it earlier.