Saud Shakeel fell seven runs short of another Test century, while debutant Arafat Minhas scored his maiden half-century as Pakistan posted 434 for nine declared before reducing Sri Lanka to 114 for three on the second day of the first Test at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka trail Pakistan by 320 runs with seven first-innings wickets in hand after bad light brought an early end to the day’s play. Kamindu Mendis (40 not out, 78b, 5x4s) and Dhananjaya de Silva (22 not out, 28b, 2x4s) will resume the visitors’ innings on Wednesday.
Resuming their first innings at the overnight score of 281 for five in 67.2 overs, with Saud unbeaten on 57 and wicketkeeper-batter Ghazi Ghori on seven, Pakistan added 153 runs to their total before declaring in the second session.
Saud, who had registered his half-century on the opening day, continued his patient knock and struck nine fours in his 199-ball 93 before falling to Asitha Fernando.
Ghazi provided valuable support with a 72-ball 48, including two fours, as the pair knitted 96 runs for the sixth wicket to strengthen Pakistan’s position.
Debutant Arafat then continued Pakistan’s impressive batting display, becoming the third debutant to register a half-century in the innings after Tayyab Arif (57) and Mohammad Taha (51) had achieved the feat on the opening day.
The left-handed batter scored 52 off 72 balls, laced with nine fours and a six. He reached his maiden Test half-century off 70 balls before being dismissed by Dilshan Madushanka.
For Sri Lanka, Fernando and Madushanka took three wickets each.
In turn, Pakistan’s bowlers made early inroads as experienced pacer Mohammad Abbas dismissed Pasindu Sooriyabandara for naught with just seven runs on the board.
Test debutant Saqib Khan then made an immediate impact with the ball, removing Dinesh Chandimal for one to leave Sri Lanka struggling at 12 for two.
Opening batter Lahiru Udara attempted to rebuild the innings with a 52-ball 42, including seven fours, before becoming Saqib’s second victim.
Kamindu and Dhananjaya then steadied the visitors’ innings with an unbroken 49-run partnership for the fourth wicket, taking Sri Lanka to 114 for three in 27.1 overs at stumps.
For Pakistan, Saqib returned figures of two for 54 in 10.1 overs, while Abbas took one for 23 in nine overs.
Scores in brief:
Day 2 of 5
Pakistan 434-9d, 106.3 overs (Saud Shakeel 93, Tayyab Arif 57, Arafat Minhas 52, Mohammad Taha 51, Babar Azam 50, Ghazi Ghori 48; Asitha Fernando 3-107, Dilshan Madushanka 3-108)
Sri Lanka 114-3, 27.1 overs (Lahiru Udara 42, Kamindu Mendis 40 not out, Dhananjaya de Silva 22 not out; Saqib Khan 2-54)
