Catch all the live updates from the Day 3 of the first Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at Rawalpindi
Toggle between the tabs above to switch between quick scorecard, full scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
Rawalpindi: Bad weather spoiled the second day of Pakistan's first home cricket Test in more than 10 years as only 17.5 overs could be bowled against Sri Lanka on Thursday.
Pakistan's Shaheen Afridi celebrates with a wicket during the first Test against Sri Lanka at Rawalpindi. AP
Resuming on 202-5, Sri Lanka reached 263-6 when play was called off at 3.30 pm local time due to bad light. Niroshan Dickwella on 33 was the only wicket to fall.
Only about 2,000 spectators were drawn by free entry to the 17,000-seat Pindi Cricket Stadium.
“I came to the stadium at around 9.30 am, but I am so disappointed that I could watch less than 20 overs,” said Siddique Ahmed, a college student. “I wish tomorrow it’s a bright sunny day so that I can watch some exciting cricket.”
But the forecast for Friday is for more rain in this northern city.
Earlier, Dhananjaya de Silva completed his sixth test half-century and Sri Lanka added 20 runs before rain arrived after only 35 minutes of play in the first session.
The 16-year-old fast bowler Naseem Shah induced an edge off Dhananjaya in his third over of the morning, but the batsman was declared not out after video replays showed the ball kissed the grass before wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan caught it.
Dhananjaya completed his half-century off the next ball when he played an on-drive off a full toss and ran for two runs before the rain came. Dhananjaya has hit eight fours and faced 104 balls.
Play resumed after a break of 2 hours, 43 minutes, and Pakistan finally got the breakthrough with the second new ball during 10 overs of play. Left-handed Dickwella was neatly caught at gully off left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Afridi, then the umpires stopped play due to bad light.
Dhananjaya was unbeaten on 72 off 131 balls with 11 boundaries, and Dilruwan Perera was 2 not out. “If we could get a 300-plus score we could put Pakistan under pressure tomorrow,” Dickwella said.
“With these (overcast) conditions we have three good seamers and an offspinner … we are confident that they will get some purchase out of this wicket.”
Young fast bowlers Afridi (2-47) and Shah (2-75) bowled with some lively pace under favourable conditions, especially with the second new ball.
“We tried to give 100%,” Afridi said. “The ball is still new and we will try to bowl them out as quickly as possible tomorrow.”
With inputs from The Associated Press
Find latest and upcoming tech gadgets online on Tech2 Gadgets. Get technology news, gadgets reviews & ratings. Popular gadgets including laptop, tablet and mobile specifications, features, prices, comparison.
During the May 9 protests, the unruly supporters and workers of PTI reportedly stormed and torched state installations across the country. The violent protests, which went on for nearly three days, claimed the lives of at least eight people and injured dozens of others
The distressing number of deaths has raised concerns regarding the treatment of inmates within the prison and whether they are provided with adequate medical facilities. These incidents cast doubt on the conditions and care provided to prisoners
The IMF extended a roughly $3 billion rescue facility to debt-ridden Sri Lanka on March 20, helping to stabilise the country's economy following a disastrous economic crisis last year