Saud Shakeel missed a hundred by three runs, but his innings helped Pakistan finish the Rawalpindi Test with the result they needed to avoid defeat. The hosts closed on 284/8, leaving Sri Lanka without a second innings and the series opener drawn. Debutant Saqib Khan took the Player of the Match award after his seven-wicket performance.
Shakeel holds the innings together
Pakistan began the final day on 57/1, only 45 runs ahead. That position left work to do against Sri Lanka’s attack still looking for the opening that could create a chase. Azan Awais departed for 22 and Mohammad Taha for 24, with Lahiru Kumara and Asitha Fernando making the early breakthroughs.
Babar Azam contributed 34 before Milan Rathnayaka removed him. Salman Agha followed after making 13. Each dismissal increased the importance of Shakeel’s stay, especially as Sri Lanka continued to work through Pakistan’s batting.
Ghazi Ghori’s 35 provided valuable support. Shakeel kept batting at the other end, hitting seven boundaries on his way to 97. Kumara eventually bowled him, bringing his resistance to an end just short of a century. By then, Pakistan had done enough to keep Sri Lanka from batting again.
Five days without a winner
Rathnayaka finished with 3/47, while Kumara returned 2/65 and Fernando 2/35. Their efforts kept the final day competitive, but Pakistan’s resistance took the game to a draw.
The earlier innings explain why Pakistan needed that resistance. They had declared on 434/9, only for Sri Lanka to reply with 446. Dhananjaya de Silva’s 167 and Kusal Mendis’ 119 helped the visitors take a 12-run first-innings lead.
Shakeel had also led Pakistan’s first-innings scoring with 93. His two contributions were central to the hosts’ batting effort, while Saqib’s debut brought a different kind of reward through the match award.
The ICC’s series report lists the second Test in Rawalpindi from November 17–21. The opening contest has left neither side ahead in the series, and Pakistan’s final-day survival gives both teams a fresh starting point.
