The first Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium has ended in a draw on Friday.
Saud Shakeel top-scored for Pakistan with 97 in the second innings, one innings after he made 93. Pakistan finished on 284/8 in 84.5 overs, which put them 272 runs ahead of Sri Lanka’s first-innings total.
Shakeel faced 210 balls and hit seven fours, and Lahiru Kumara bowled him at 284/8. He missed his fifth Test century by three runs. In the first innings, he missed it by seven. Sri Lanka’s attack kept chipping away at the rest of the order. Milan Rathnayake took 3/47 in 20 overs, and Asitha Fernando took 2/35 in 13 overs. Kumara finished with 2/65, and Dhananjaya de Silva took 1/25.
Ghazi Ghori scored 35, Babar Azam made 34 and Mohammad Taha scored 24. Azan Awais made 22 and Arafat Minhas scored 16. Razaullah finished unbeaten on six.
Pakistan declared their first innings on day two at 434/9. Five batters made half-centuries. Shakeel scored 93, Tayyab Arif 57, Minhas 52, Taha 51 and Babar 50. Arif, Taha and Minhas all made their Test debuts.
Sri Lanka lost their top three on day two. Saqib Khan dismissed Lahiru Udara for 42 and Dinesh Chandimal for one, and Mohammad Abbas removed Pasindu Sooriyabandara for a duck. Abbas also took Kamindu Mendis for 58 on day three.
Sri Lanka then fought back. De Silva scored 167 off 246 balls with 20 fours. Captain Kusal Mendis made 119 off 202 balls with 10 fours and four sixes. They resumed on day four at 404/4, only 30 runs behind. Sri Lanka lost their last six wickets for 42 runs and finished on 446 in 117.2 overs. That gave them a 12-run lead.
Debutant Saqib took 7/130 in 34.5 overs. He removed de Silva and Kusal Mendis on the morning of day four, and he also dismissed Udara, Chandimal, Sonal Dinusha, Kumara and Fernando. Abbas finished with 2/68 in 33 overs, and Razaullah took 1/140. Ghori took five catches in the innings and Salman Ali Agha took three.
The second and final Test starts on Tuesday, November 17, at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
