PAK vs SL, 1st Test — Day 2 Stumps: Sri Lanka 114/3, Trail by 320 After Pakistan's 434/9 Declared

Some days in a Test match are decided by a great ball. This one turned on a bad one. Saud Shakeel had batted for 199 balls, through the end of day one and the whole of the morning, and was seven runs from his first Test hundred since October 2024. Then Asitha Fernando dropped one short and down the leg side, Shakeel went for the hook, and Kusal Mendis dived to his right to take a thin edge. It was Fernando's 100th Test wicket, and the moment Pakistan stopped building and started swinging.

Pakistan declared on 434 for 9 an hour later. By the close their seamers had done more with the ball than Sri Lanka's had in nearly two days, and the visitors ended a day shortened by bad light at 114 for 3, still 320 behind.

The morning was Shakeel's and Ghazi Ghori's. They resumed on 281 for 5 and simply ticked along at about four an over, working singles and taking the odd boundary that came their way. The second new ball was taken in the 81st over and made little difference. Sri Lanka reviewed an lbw shout against Ghori in the 75th over and lost it, their third failed review of the innings. The pair added 96 before Dilshan Madushanka had Ghori caught by Pasindu Sooriyabandara for 48.

Shakeel was 91 at lunch, with Pakistan 390 for 6 and talk of 500. Then came the hook, and after it, a frantic three-quarters of an hour. Sri Lanka went short, and Pakistan went for almost everything. Arafat Minhas, on debut, reached fifty off 70 balls and hit nine fours and a six, and he and Razaullah added 41 off 30 balls, with a top edge dropped and a few more falling safe. Both fell in quick succession, Minhas to Madushanka and Razaullah to Lahiru Kumara, and Babar Azam called them in. With rain forecast later in the match, the hurry made sense.

Pakistan's seamers bowled in a way that showed up Sri Lanka's. Mohammad Abbas, as patient as ever, kept to a tight line on off stump and moved one just enough to find Sooriyabandara's outside edge. Sooriyabandara, promoted to open in only his third Test, made 0. In the next over, Saqib Khan, also on debut, angled one in from wide of the crease and straightened it, and Dinesh Chandimal's leading edge went to Salman Agha. Sri Lanka were 12 for 2.

Lahiru Udara counter-attacked with seven fours in his 42 off 52 balls. He was dropped at gully driving loosely, and a few balls later he did it again outside off and edged Saqib through to Ghazi Ghori. At 65 for 3, the game looked like it could run away. It did not, because Kamindu Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva added 49 off 62 balls in the last hour. Kamindu had his luck: an lbw that stayed not out on umpire's call, a chance that fell short of backward point and a run-out missed. Dhananjaya, no longer captain, looked freer than he has for a while. Abbas finished the day with 9-4-23-1, the best figures of the innings so far.

The pitch was the same for both sides. It was the bowling that was different. Sri Lanka's seamers spread the ball around: three of the four went for more than 100, and only Milan Rathnayaka, with 72 in 25 overs, kept things tight. Pakistan kept hitting a good length outside off stump, and that is where all three Sri Lanka wickets came from. Batting did get easier as the ball softened, which gives Kamindu and Dhananjaya some hope for the third morning. Bad light ended play early for the second day running, at 4.20pm local time.

Our preview leaned narrowly to Pakistan, and after two days they are well ahead. We named Mohammad Abbas with the new ball in Rawalpindi as the match-up to watch, and he took the first wicket in his third over and went for only 23 runs in nine. We also warned that the light would cut days short in November, and it has done so on both days. Win probabilities on CricIntel are built for T20 cricket, so we keep the Test call to the narrative.

Sri Lanka need 235 to avoid the follow-on, another 121 runs. Kamindu on 40 and Dhananjaya on 22 are their best chance of getting there and of turning this into a real contest. Abbas and Saqib with a fresh, hard ball in the first hour will be Pakistan's best chance of putting them back under pressure. With rain about later in the match, Pakistan will want to bowl Sri Lanka out on day three.