In the second Test against Sri Lanka, Pakistani batsman Saud Shakeel achieved a remarkable world record by becoming the first player in Test history to score 50 or more runs in each of his first seven matches. Before Shakeel, Sunil Gavaskar from India, Saeed Ahmed from Pakistan, Basil Butcher from the West Indies, and Bert Sutcliffe from New Zealand had scored half-centuries in their first six Tests.
During the third day of the second Test, Sri Lanka’s Asitha Fernando dismissed Shakeel on 57 runs in the afternoon session, taking his wicket tally to three. Fernando bowled from around the wicket to trap Shakeel lbw, breaking his 109-run partnership with Abdullah Shafique.
Shafique played a splendid innings, scoring his maiden double century in Tests and becoming the first Pakistani batsman to achieve this feat on Sri Lankan soil. His innings, along with an unbeaten 132 by Agha Salman, put Pakistan in a commanding position. At stumps, Pakistan had reached 563-5 in their first innings, leading Sri Lanka by 397 runs at Colombo’s Sinhalese Sports Club.
Salman and concussion substitute Mohammad Rizwan formed an impressive unbeaten partnership of 95 runs after Shafique’s departure on 201. Salman played aggressively to support Pakistan’s new aggressive style in this series and reached his second Test century with a boundary.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed made 14 runs before retiring hurt due to feeling dizzy after a blow he received on his helmet from Fernando’s delivery. Rizwan substituted him as a concussion substitute.
Shafique achieved two milestones during the match, passing 150 for the second time against Sri Lanka and surpassing his previous Test best of 160 not out.
On the day, Pakistan resumed their innings at 178-2 after rain on Tuesday limited play to only 10 overs. Shafique played cautiously initially but later scored two successive boundaries off Fernando before reaching his century.
Unfortunately, Azam, who had added 11 runs to his overnight 28, was trapped lbw and the decision was upheld by the third umpire after review. It was the sixth time Azam had been dismissed in Test cricket by Jayasuriya, who bowled unchanged from one end during the first session.
In the previous Test, Pakistan had won the two-match series opener by four wickets.
