Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, Highlights, 2nd Test Day 1 at Karachi, Full Cricket Score: Lankans stutter after restricting hosts to modest total

Toggle between the tabs above to switch between quick scorecard, full scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary

Having already realised the dream of playing a Test in front of the home crowd in the drawn opening match against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi, skipper Azhar Ali on Wednesday said that Pakistan are eyeing a win in Karachi to make the series memorable.

Pakistan captain Azhar Ali addresses a press conference at the National Stadium in Karachi, Pakistan. AP

The two-match series marks Pakistan’s first Test on home soil since a militant attack in 2009 on Sri Lanka’s team bus in Lahore. That attack left six security personnel and two civilians dead and six players injured, and meant Pakistan spent the next decade in the test wilderness as teams refused to play there.

Related Articles

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, Highlights, 2nd Test Day 2 at Karachi, Full Cricket Score: Ali, Masood guide hosts to steady start in second essay

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, Highlights, 2nd Test Day 5 at Karachi, Full Cricket Score: Hosts clinch series with 263-run win

The series is also part of the World Test Championship, which sees the top nine Test nations face-off over a two-year period, scoring points based on their success and culminating in a final at Lords in June 2021.

Pakistan have lost six out of their last seven Tests and it was time to get back on track with victory in the second Test that starts from Thursday, Azhar said.

“We all dreamt of Test cricket’s return to Pakistan and wanted to play in front of our home crowd. Along with that it’s also the World Test Championship and we want to make our first series at home memorable by winning this Test. We will try our best to perform well as a team and produce a good result," he told reporters.

After the Pakistan Cricket Board promised watertight security for the tour, Sri Lanka played several limited-overs matches earlier this year in Pakistan, though 10 key players opted out citing security concerns.

The first Test between the sides ended in a draw due to frequent weather interruption.

On the final day, Pakistan was at 252/2 before the play was affected by bad weather. The side was powered by Abid Ali's 109 and Babar Azam's 102. Dhananjaya de Silva remained unbeaten on 102 runs helping the Lankan team reach a score of 308/6.

With inputs from Reuters and ANI