Sri Lanka ended the second day of the first Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi on 114 for three, still 320 runs behind after the hosts’ first innings closed on 434 for nine.
Saud Shakeel was the backbone of the Pakistan innings, falling for 93 — seven short of what would have been his first Test hundred in more than two years. Debutant Arafat Minhas made 52. For Sri Lanka, Asitha Fernando took three for 107 and Dilshan Madushanka three for 108, Hiru News reported.
A morning of attrition
Pakistan resumed on 281 for five and added 109 runs in the first session for the loss of a single wicket, reaching 390 for six at lunch with Shakeel unbeaten on 91, according to the Island.
Much of that came from a 96-run stand between Shakeel and Ghazi Ghori — the fourth fifty-plus partnership of the innings. Ghori fell two runs short of a maiden Test fifty, wafting at a wide delivery from Madushanka and edging to Pasindu Sooriyabandara, who held a good catch at gully after being briefly wrong-footed.
Minhas, promoted from the white-ball side, needed just seven deliveries before slashing a short ball over gully for his first Test boundary, and a second followed soon after.
Sri Lanka’s reply
Lahiru Udara was out for 42 and Kamindu Mendis finished unbeaten on 40 at the close. Saqib Khan took two for 54 and Mohammad Abbas one for 23.
Sri Lanka had won the toss and chosen to bowl on Monday, with Kusal Mendis leading the side in a Test for the first time and specialist spinner Prabath Jayasuriya left out in favour of four fast bowlers. Only 67.2 overs were possible on the opening day before bad light ended play early.
The Island’s match analysis was blunt about the selection, noting that Sri Lanka’s quicks — Asitha Fernando, Lahiru Kumara and Madushanka — each conceded more than four runs an over and that the pitch “does not bowl line and length for you.” Four Pakistan batters passed fifty on day one.
It is the first Test series between the two sides in seven years, and part of the current World Test Championship cycle.
