Pakistan finished the first day of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi on 281 for 5, with two of their four debutants making fifties. Bad light ended play after 67.2 overs, AFP reported, with Saud Shakeel 57 not out.
Sri Lanka’s captain Kusal Mendis chose to bowl on a green-looking pitch and picked four seamers with no frontline spinner, leaving out Prabath Jayasuriya. Four fifties later, the call looked expensive, and Sri Lanka go into day two needing the last five wickets quickly to keep the first-innings total in check.
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Key points
- Pakistan closed day one on 281 for 5 in 67.2 overs before bad light stopped play
- Debutants Tayyab Arif (57 off 51) and Mohammad Taha (51) and Babar Azam (50) all made fifties; Saud Shakeel is 57 not out
- Sri Lanka chose to bowl with four seamers and no frontline spinner; Kusal Mendis took four catches
A 46-ball fifty on debut
Tayyab Arif set the tone at the top. He reached his fifty in 46 balls and made 57 off 51, with nine fours and a six, AP reported, before Asitha Fernando had him caught by Mendis. He and Azan Awais put on 86 for the first wicket in 16 overs. Awais made 30 before he was caught behind off Milan Rathnayake, and Pakistan were 90 for 2 once Arif fell.
Mohammad Taha, the other debutant in the top order, batted the other way: 51 off 105 balls at No. 3. He survived an lbw review off Rathnayake and added 68 with Shakeel before top-edging a slog sweep off Sonal Dinusha late in the day.
Babar’s fifty, and the hundred that still won’t come
Babar Azam made 50 off 58 balls with seven fours, his 35th Test fifty, before Dilshan Madushanka had him caught behind. He has now gone 41 Test innings without a hundred; his last came against New Zealand in Karachi in December 2022. Salman Ali Agha made 16 before Fernando, who finished with 2 for 64, found his edge. Mendis took four catches behind the stumps.
The two debutants still to come
Pakistan handed out four caps on Monday. Arafat Minhas and Saqib Khan are yet to have their say. Minhas, a spinning all-rounder, hit 61 off 31 balls when Pakistan chased 326 to beat Sri Lanka in the tri-series final in Lahore, and Sri Lanka’s quicks will meet him with a second new ball in sight. Mohammad Ghazi Ghori is 7 not out alongside Shakeel.
What happens next
Day two resumes on Tuesday with Pakistan 281 for 5. The second and final Test starts in Lahore on 17 November.
Market watch
- Pakistan’s first-innings total now rests on Shakeel and the tail. With Ghori in and Minhas still to come, a total past 350 is in play if Shakeel bats through the morning session.
- Sri Lanka’s all-seam attack makes Fernando the man for top-bowler markets on day two: he has the two wickets and the best figures.
- Without a frontline spinner, Sri Lanka may struggle to bowl Pakistan out cheaply in the second innings if the green fades, which matters for draw and match-result prices later in the game.
- Babar’s run of 41 innings without a hundred is worth remembering when his top-batter price looks short in Lahore. Our cricket odds guide explains how those markets are priced.
For more, see the latest cricket predictions and upcoming fixtures in our match centre.
Top image: Photo: Ahmed Abdulbasit / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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Macaela Becker
Macaela is an iGaming writer who covers sports betting, casino platforms, and industry news. She researches betting markets, odds, and bonuses to create clear, practical guides.
She focuses on helping you stay informed while making betting easier to understand.
