Debutant pacer Saqib Khan produced one of the great first-innings bowling performances by a Pakistani on Test debut, taking 7 for 130 to bowl Sri Lanka out for 446 on the fourth morning of the first Test at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday, trimming what had looked like a commanding Sri Lankan position down to a slender 12-run first-innings lead.
Sri Lanka had resumed the day on an imposing 404 for 4, with centurions Dhananjaya de Silva and captain Kusal Mendis still at the crease and seemingly in control after Wednesday’s twin tons put the tourists firmly on top. Saqib, however, struck in the very first over of the day, having de Silva caught behind for 167, and triggered a stunning collapse in which Sri Lanka’s last six wickets fell for just 42 runs. The innings folded for 446 in 117.2 overs, according to Dawn and a Business Recorder report citing AFP.
De Silva’s innings, which had crossed three figures a day earlier, ended at 167 off 246 balls with 20 fours — comfortably the top score of the match. Mendis, dismissed by Saqib in the fifth over of the day for 119 off 202 balls (10 fours, four sixes), became the first Sri Lankan to score a Test century in his maiden match as captain. The pair had added 249 runs together for the fifth wicket, a stand that Dawn reported as a new Sri Lankan record against Pakistan for that wicket, surpassing the previous best of 207.
Saqib’s 7 for 130 in 34 overs equals the record for the most wickets by a Pakistani bowler on Test debut and makes him only the fourth Pakistani to claim a seven-wicket haul in his first Test innings, joining Mohammad Zahid (7 for 66), Mohammad Nazir (7 for 99) and Abrar Ahmed (7 for 114), Business Recorder reported. Besides de Silva and Mendis, he also accounted for Sonal Dinusha (20), Lahiru Kumara (0) and Asitha Fernando (4), while Mohammad Abbas took two wickets and Razaullah one.
| Innings | Total | Key contributors |
|---|---|---|
| Pakistan 1st innings | 434-9 declared | Saud Shakeel 93, Arafat Minhas 52, half-centuries for debutants Tayyab Arif and Mohammad Taha |
| Sri Lanka 1st innings | 446 all out (117.2 overs) | Dhananjaya de Silva 167, Kusal Mendis 119; Saqib Khan 7-130 |
| First-innings lead | Sri Lanka by 12 runs | — |
| Pakistan 2nd innings (in progress) | 39-1 at lunch | Tayyab Arif out for 11; Azan Awais and Mohammad Taha unbeaten |
Pakistan, chasing quick runs to set up a declaration on the final two days, lost Tayyab Arif for 11 early in their second innings but reached 39 for 1 by the lunch interval, with Azan Awais and Mohammad Taha both unbeaten. Live-score trackers had the pair continuing to bat fluently through the afternoon session, extending Pakistan’s overall lead well beyond the bare 12 runs they started the innings with. Pakistan had declared on 434 for 9 on day three after Shakeel fell seven runs short of what would have been his second Test hundred.
With two days still to play, Pakistan will be looking to bat Sri Lanka’s bowlers into the ground and set a target steep enough to make Saqib’s morning burst count for something concrete — a result that looked unlikely before Thursday’s dramatic turnaround.
Our Opinion
A match that seemed to be drifting away from Pakistan on Wednesday evening was turned on its head inside a single morning session, and that swing is as much a credit to Pakistan’s team management for persisting with an all-debutant-heavy top order and attack as it is to Saqib Khan’s individual skill; it is also a reminder that Sri Lanka’s batting depth, for all of Mendis’s and de Silva’s class, still collapses in a heap once the top order is broken — a pattern that has cost them in bigger series than this one, and one Pakistan will hope to exploit again before the match is done.
