Captain Babar Azam and two debutants were among four batters to score half-centuries as Pakistan reached 281-5 on day one of the first Test against Sri Lanka on Monday.
Opener Tayyab Arif scored an impressive 57, and Mohammad Taha struck a patient 51. Both were playing their first Test. Azam made 50. Sri Lanka’s decision to bowl on what appeared to be a green pitch in Rawalpindi seemed to backfire.
Saud Shakeel was unbeaten on 57 when bad light stopped play 15 minutes ahead of schedule. Ghazi Ghori was not out on seven.
Sri Lanka’s bowling plan under pressure
Sri Lanka went with a pace quartet and without a frontline spinner, a decision that could prove costly. The pitch offered the fast bowlers little assistance. Asitha Fernando was the pick of the bowlers with 2-64.
Azam looked in good touch but again fell short of an elusive century. He was dismissed by Dilshan Madushanka after the lunch break. He hit seven fours in his 58-ball innings. It was his 41st innings without a Test century, and his last came against New Zealand in Karachi in December 2022.
Salman Agha made 16 before giving Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis his fourth catch of the innings.
Arif and Awais set the tone
Arif said Pakistan had done well under the conditions.
“We have played good and positive cricket considering the conditions,” said Arif. “I have played a lot with some of these players so I was supported well and I am happy on scoring a half century.”
Arif put on a confident 86-run opening stand with Azan Awais (30) as Sri Lanka’s pace bowlers struggled to make a breakthrough. The 20-year-old, playing his maiden first-class season, hit nine boundaries and a six in his 51-ball knock.
Sri Lanka had to wait until the 16th over for their first wicket. Milan Rathnayaka had Awais caught behind by Mendis. Fernando then found an edge off Arif’s bat, and Mendis took the catch, leaving Pakistan at 90-2.
Sri Lankan bowling coach Ryan van Niekerk was not happy with the day’s work.
“Probably not satisfied as bowling first and with the seamers we have we should have taken a couple of more wickets,” said Niekerk. “But bowlers pulling it back in the last session was good.”
Debuts and squads
Allrounder Arafat Minhas and pace bowler Saqib Khan are also making Test debuts for Pakistan.
Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Azan Awais, Tayyab Arif, Mohammed Taha, Saud Shakeel, Salman Agha, Ghazi Ghori, Arafat Minhas, Razaullah, Mohammad Abbas, Saqib Khan
Sri Lanka: Kusal Mendis (captain), Pasindu Sooriyabandara, Lahiru Udara, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sonal Dinusha, Milan Rathnayake, Lahiru Kumara, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka
The second and final Test is in Lahore from November 17.