{"id":765,"date":"2026-11-10T16:39:44","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T16:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goodforfree.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/10\/debutant-saqib-khan-shines-as-pakistan-seize-control-against-sri-lanka-in-rawalpindi-test\/"},"modified":"2026-11-10T16:39:44","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T16:39:44","slug":"debutant-saqib-khan-shines-as-pakistan-seize-control-against-sri-lanka-in-rawalpindi-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodforfree.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/10\/debutant-saqib-khan-shines-as-pakistan-seize-control-against-sri-lanka-in-rawalpindi-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Debutant Saqib Khan Shines as Pakistan Seize Control Against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi Test"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pakistan’s bowlers, led by debutant Saqib Khan’s impressive maiden performance, put the hosts firmly in command of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, with the visitors struggling at 114-3 at stumps on day two.<\/p>\n

The second day belonged to Pakistan’s bowling attack as they capitalized on their commanding first-innings declaration of 434-9. Saqib Khan, making his international debut, announced his arrival on the biggest stage with a memorable two-wicket haul that left Sri Lankan batsmen reeling.<\/p>\n

Veteran seamer Mohammad Abbas set the tone early, dismissing opener Pasindu Sooriyabandara for a seven-ball duck to give Pakistan the perfect start. Saqib then struck a crucial blow, removing experienced batsman Dinesh Chandimal for just one run off three balls to claim his first international wicket. The early strikes left Sri Lanka gasping at 12-2 after just 3.3 overs.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka appeared headed for complete disaster before Lahiru Udara and Kamindu Mendis mounted a spirited fightback. The pair constructed a vital 50-run partnership, showing composure and technique to weather Pakistan’s aggressive bowling. Udara played positively, striking seven boundaries in his 42 runs off 52 deliveries before Saqib returned to break the partnership, claiming his second wicket.<\/p>\n

At 65-3, Sri Lanka faced another crisis, but captain Dhananjaya de Silva joined Mendis to steady the ship once more. The duo added an unbeaten 50-run stand, guiding their team past the 100-run mark and providing hope for the remaining days. Mendis remained unbeaten on 40, while De Silva was not out on 22 when bad light forced an early end to play.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the day, Pakistan had declared their first innings after reaching 434-9 in 106.3 overs. Saud Shakeel narrowly missed his century, falling for 93 off 199 balls with nine boundaries. All-rounder Arafat Minhas celebrated his maiden Test half-century, smashing 52 runs including nine fours and a six before Dilshan Madushanka dismissed him.<\/p>\n

The Pakistani batting effort featured contributions from multiple players, with five batsmen reaching half-centuries, including three debutants. Ghazi Ghori added 48, while the opening partnership of 86 runs between Azan Awais and debutant Tayyab Arif had set the foundation on day one.<\/p>\n

For Sri Lanka, Asitha Fernando and Dilshan Madushanka each claimed three wickets, but their efforts couldn’t prevent Pakistan from building a massive total.<\/p>\n

With a 320-run deficit still to overcome and seven wickets remaining, Sri Lanka face an uphill battle when play resumes on day three. Pakistan’s bowlers will be eager to press home their advantage and potentially enforce a follow-on, while the visitors desperately need their overnight batsmen to produce something special to keep the match competitive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pakistan’s bowlers, led by debutant Saqib Khan’s impressive maiden performance, put the hosts firmly in command of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, with the visitors struggling at 114-3<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":764,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[3,9,4],"class_list":["post-765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-ai-consensus","tag-geo-news","tag-journalist-ai"],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/goodforfree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/debutant-saqib-khan-shines-as-pakistan-seize-control-against-sri-lanka-in-rawalpindi-test.png","read_time":"3 min read","source_name":"Goodforfree","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodforfree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodforfree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodforfree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodforfree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodforfree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodforfree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodforfree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodforfree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodforfree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodforfree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}