{"id":4367,"date":"2026-11-13T18:03:45","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T13:03:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=4367"},"modified":"2026-11-13T18:03:45","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T13:03:45","slug":"pakistan-bad-weather-hold-sri-lanka-to-draw-in-first-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=4367","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan, bad weather hold Sri Lanka to draw in first Test"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Led by Saud Shakeel and helped by bad weather, Pakistan foiled Sri Lanka\u2019s bid for victory as their first Test ended in a draw on the fifth and final day in Rawalpindi on Friday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sri Lanka had scented a win with four wickets in the first session, with Pakistan 151-5 at lunch and a lead of 139. But Shakeel saved the home team with a fighting 97 as Pakistan finished on 284-8, a lead of 272.<\/p>\n

Shakeel, who scored 93 in the first innings, missed out on a hundred once again when he was bowled by Lahiru Kumara, before teams shook hands to end the Test.<\/p>\n

Shakeel\u2019s 210-ball knock had seven boundaries.<\/p>\n

Pakistan were helped by a brief 20-minute bad-light break ahead of lunch before Shakeel and Ghazi Ghori (35) kept Sri Lankan bowlers at bay during a 92-run, sixth-wicket stand.<\/p>\n

Milan Rathnayaka was the best bowler with 3-47 while Asitha Fernando had figures of 2-35 and Kumara 2-65.<\/p>\n

The Test was marred by bad light in the last sessions on each of the first four days, and 117 overs from a stipulated 360 were lost, leaving a conclusive result tough to achieve.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka spurned a strong position on day four when they lost their last six wickets and slumped from 404-6 to 446 all out in reply to Pakistan\u2019s 434-9 declared.<\/p>\n

Pacer Saqib Khan, one of four debutants for Pakistan, grabbed 7-130.<\/p>\n

Both teams will now look for a result in the second and final Test, starting at the same venue on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam praised his batters.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone was expecting the pitch to be difficult, and I give credit to my openers [for] the way they accessed the pitch and gave us a good start,\u201d said Azam, also crediting Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should also give credit to Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis for the way they built the partnership before Saqib bowled superbly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pakistan\u2019s Kusal said poor bowling on the first day had cost them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe won a good toss but did not do well in the first session, and that\u2019s where we need to learn. But overall I am happy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In the morning, Azam fell to a leg-side trap, handing the short square-leg fielder a simple catch off fast bowler Rathnayaka for 34.<\/p>\n

Salman Agha fell in the same manner off Rathnayaka for 13, leaving Pakistan struggling on 125-5.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Sri Lanka struck with the first ball of the day when Kumara dismissed Azan Awais for 22 at Pakistan\u2019s overnight total of 57.<\/p>\n

Next over, Fernando made it 57-3 with Mohammad Taha caught behind for 24.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka could have had Azam on 22, but Kamindu Mendis spilled a simple chance off Fernando as the Pakistan skipper failed to get an advantage.<\/p>\n

Azam hit six fours and added 50 for the fourth wicket with Shakeel before playing a loose shot.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Led by Saud Shakeel and helped by bad weather, Pakistan foiled Sri Lanka\u2019s bid for victory as their first Test ended in a draw on the fifth and final day in Rawalpindi on Friday. Sri Lanka had scented a win with four wickets in the first session, with Pakistan 151-5 at lunch and a lead of 139. But Shakeel saved the home team with a fighting 97 as Pakistan finished on 284-8, a lead of 272. Shakeel, who scored 93 in the first innings, missed out on a hundred once…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4367\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}