Pakistan take first session after breezy Tayyab Arif-Azan Awais opening stand

November 9, 2026
5:53 pm

Tea Pakistan 214 for 3 (Arif 57, Babar 50, Rathnayaka 1-31) vs Sri Lanka

Pakistan followed a dominant first session in Rawalpindi with a gritty middle passage of play on the first day of the first Test against Sri Lanka. Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Taha kept the prowling attack at bay after the loss of Babar Azam early in the session.

The run rate dipped sharply, but under hazy skies with the momentum of the first session slipping away, what mattered most for Pakistan was Sri Lanka being held at bay without being able to add to the wickets column.

Babar had flown out of the blocks when the players emerged after lunch. Dilshan Madushanka erred in line three times in the first over, and on each occasion, Babar found the off-side boundary. The third one brought up another half-century for the Pakistan captain, and on a pitch that had begun flattening out, the stage looked set for a substantial contribution.

Those hopes melted away in the following over, when Madushanka got both line and length bang on, seaming away from off stump. Babar drove at it with hard hands, failing to reckon with the sideways movement, and tickled it through to the keeper.

The growing crowd was disappointed into silence once more, and Sri Lanka sensed blood. It was down to the even-keeled Shakeel to hold the fort alongside the young Taha. Together, the pair created a partnership of their own, one very different from the panache with which Azan Awais, Tayyab Arif and Babar had batted, but no less consequential for it.

The morning had begun with a sizzling opening partnership that saw Pakistan run up 137 in an eventful first session.

Sri Lanka won the toss on a bright sunny morning, and opted to insert Pakistan in, Kusal Mendis’ eyes lighting up at the green strip he wanted his bowlers to exploit. But the surface turned out to be much less lethal and the Sri Lankan bowlers far less consistent than Mendis might have hoped.

Arif – one of four debutants in Pakistan’s XI – showed no nerves as he went after the fast bowlers, especially punishing fuller lengths as Sri Lanka went searching for swing that was never quite there.

There were hints the pitch might have offered Sri Lanka more if they settled on the right length. Awais, in particular, was beaten a number of times just outside off, but Madushanka and Asitha Fernando kept allowing Arif to release the pressure. He was happy to do so, particularly though then cover region, and unafraid of taking his chances against the odd short ball, with one flying over deep fine-leg for six.

The pair struck a whopping 15 fours plus that six in the first half of the session , and it was on the stroke of drinks that Milan Rathnayaka finally broke through. He jagged one back into Awais from around the wicket that took the edge through to the keeper. The following over, Asitha drew Arif’s outside edge, and suddenly Sri Lanka had roared back.

Pakistan can often see a pair of wickets turn into a cluster, but they spent the following hour shutting Sri Lanka out while refusing to hand over the scoring momentum. Babar got through the early stages of his innings with strokeplay confident enough to belie his recent lack of runs. Taha was far more circumspect, but with Babar in free-flowing form, he was allowed to be. That steel has come in handy as Pakistan rebuild after the flair of the first couple of hours.