RAWALPINDI (The Thursday Times) — Saud Shakeel fell three runs short of a century for the second time in the match as the first Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka ended in a draw at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Shakeel, who made 93 in the first innings, batted for 210 balls and hit seven fours in his 97. The teams shook hands soon after his dismissal, with Pakistan on 284-8 in their second innings and the match beyond either side.
Pakistan resumed on the final morning at 57-1, 45 runs ahead, but lost Azan Awais for 22 and Mohammad Taha for 24 without adding to their overnight scores, Lahiru Kumara and Asitha Fernando taking a wicket each.
Babar Azam made 34 off 48 balls, with six fours, before Milan Rathnayake removed him, and Rathnayake also had Agha Salman caught for 13. At 125-5 Pakistan were wobbling.
Shakeel steadied them with a 92-run stand for the sixth wicket with Ghazi Ghori, who made 35 off 69 balls before he too fell to Rathnayake. Arafat Minhas added 16.
The match will be remembered for Saqib Khan’s debut. The 31-year-old fast bowler took 7-130, five of them in a superb eight-over spell, as Sri Lanka lost wickets in clumps and were bowled out for 446, a lead of just 12.
Sri Lanka had looked set for a big lead at 404-4, after Dhananjaya de Silva’s 167 and a century from their captain, Kusal Mendis, who made 119. Pakistan had declared their first innings at 434-9, with four of their top five batters passing fifty.
Rain and bad light cost significant time, including nearly two sessions on Thursday, which left too little cricket for a result.
The second and final Test of the series also starts in Rawalpindi on Tuesday, after it was moved out of Lahore because of the city’s smog.
