RAWALPINDI STADIUM: 32-year-old green shirt Abid Ali has sealed his place in the history of Test cricket by becoming the first batsman to score tons on both Test and ODI debuts by scoring a century against Sri Lanka here on Sunday (15th of December, 2019), the fifth and final day of the match that ended in a draw after bad weather hit the first four days.
Abid Ali hit Sri Lankan bowler Vishwa Fernando for a boundary and then drove him through cover for two to complete his century. Earlier in the month of March this year he scored 112 against Australia in Dubai on his ODI debut.
Cricket Pak vs S. Lanka: Day 4 of 1st Test called off
RAWALPINDI: Rain and poor lights forced the organizers call off the 4th day (Saturday 14th Dec.) of 1st Test match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka being played here today.
Both the Pakistan and Sri Lanka teams remained in their hotel in Islamabad.
Cricket Pk vs S. Lanka: 2K spectators drawn by free entry to the 17K-seat Pindi Stadium
RAWALPINDI: Though free tickets were provided to the cricket aficionados, only 2000 turned up to watch the 2nd day match between Green Shirts and the Sri Lankans here today.
Furthermore weather played its role to spoil the game and only 18.2 over could be bowled against Sri Lanka that commenced batting on 202 for 5. Pakistani bowlers only took one scalp of Niroshan Dickwella whose bat yielded 33 runs.
In the first session the rain stopped the match only after 35 minutes but that allowed Dhananjaya de Silva complete his sixth test half-century. Dhananjaya was unbeaten on 72 off 131 balls with 11 boundaries while Dilruwan Perera was 2 not out at at the close of the play.
When the game recommenced after a break of 2 hours, 43 minutes Dickwella was caught at gully off Shaheen Afridi. It is pertinent to mention here that Test cricket has returned to Pakistan after a long gap of 10 years.
Stumps Day 2: Sri Lanka: 263/6 (86.3 ov).
The second Test will be played at Karachi’s National Stadium from next Thursday
ISLAMABAD: After gap of a decade the Sri Lankan cricket team arrived here today ahead of their Test series against Pakistan starting on Wednesday 11th of December.
The first Test will commence on Wednesday at Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.
Second test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka is scheduled to be played in Karachi’s National Stadium from 19th till 23rd of December, 2019.
Teams:
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (skipper), Oshada Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Dilruwan Perera, Lasith Embuldeniya, Lahiru Kumara, Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, and Lakshan Sandakan. Substitute player from the end Test: Asitha Fernando.
Pakistan: Azhar Ali (skipper), Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket keeper), Babar Azam, Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah, and Usman Shinwari.
