RAWALPINDI: Bad light came to Sri Lanka’s aid as Pakistan invited to bat first pushed towards a big total on the opening day of the first Test at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium here yesterday.
By stumps Pakistan had scored 281-5 with Saud Shakeel unbeaten on 57 off 112 balls (7 fours) being the fourth Pakistani batsman to cross the 50-run mark for the day.
Every Pakistan batter got a start, but none managed to convert it into a substantial score. Pakistan made a brisk start through Azan Awais (30) and debutant Tayyab Arif (57 off 51 balls, 9 fours, 1 six), who put together 86 runs in just 16 overs. Another debutant Mohammad Taha (51 off 105 balls, 6 fours) and Babar Azam (50 off 58 balls, 7 fours) followed with half-centuries of their own, but neither could carry on to make a bigger contribution.
Saud Shakeel looked the most assured at the crease, and Pakistan will be banking on him to make the most of his start and push towards a hundred when play resumes on its second day today. Sri Lanka who bowled almost exclusively seam had a pretty poor overrate overall, bowling just 67.2 overs.
Mohammad Thaha became the second Pakistan debutant to score a half-century
Saud Shakeel was the fourth Pakistani batsman to pass the 50-run mark
Kusal Mendis in his first Test as captain won the toss and wanted to use the conditions on offer with patches of green on the pitch, but Sri Lanka’s new-ball bowlers were not on the mark.
They lacked discipline on a surface that had something for the seamers. So inconsistent were that they conceded 22 boundaries and a six in the first session, the majority of which were made use of by the two openers Azan Awais and Tayyab Arif who scored 16 of those boundaries and a six in their opening stand of 86.
Once Milan Rathnayake came into the attack, he brought Sri Lanka control and bowled 8 overs on the trot. He was the one who made the breakthrough forcing an inside edge to be caught by Kusal Mendis. And next over, Sri Lanka found more joy as Asitha Fernando bowled a fine delivery to get the outside edge of Arif. Two wickets in two overs and Sri Lanka were delighted. But after that there was no more success as Mohammad Taha and Babar Azam took Pakistan to 137 at lunch.
The Sri Lankan bowlers did bowl well after the first hour of the afternoon session and kept the pressure, but overall they were not hitting the right lengths. They had only one success – the wicket of Babar in the session that saw 77 runs scored.