Day 5: Sri Lanka Strike Twice as Pakistan Reach 72/3

Sri Lanka struck twice in the first five balls of the final morning in Rawalpindi, removing both of Pakistan's overnight batters and dragging the first Test back towards a result nobody had expected. Pakistan were 72 for 3 in their second innings at the time of writing on Friday, November 13, leading by 60 runs, with Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel at the crease and around 95 overs left in the day.

It was a dream start for the visitors. Lahiru Kumara needed just one ball of Day 5 to break the overnight stand, and Asitha Fernando followed up four balls later. The two wickets changed the shape of the morning completely: a day that had looked like a gentle cruise towards a draw suddenly had edge, tension and a genuine contest in it.

The draw remains the most likely outcome, and the weather may yet have the final word. But for the first hour of the final day at least, this weather-hit Test finally felt alive.

A dream start for Sri Lanka

Pakistan resumed on 57 for 1, with Azan Awais on 22 and Mohammad Taha on 24, the pair having added an unbeaten 42 together on the fourth evening. The first ball of the day ended that partnership. Kumara, completing his unfinished over from Thursday, found movement away from the left-hander outside off stump, Awais pushed at a full delivery, and Kamindu Mendis held the catch at slip. Awais was gone for 22 off 66 balls, and Sri Lanka had the breakthrough before the day had properly begun.

Four balls later, Fernando produced the delivery of the morning. Bowling from round the wicket, he landed one on a length that moved away late off the seam, Taha was forced to defend, the ball brushed his glove and settled in the gloves of captain Kusal Mendis. Taha fell for 24 off 57 balls, and both overnight batters were back in the pavilion within five balls of the resumption.

Pakistan were 57 for 3, and the morning belonged entirely to Sri Lanka's new-ball pair. Fernando's figures in the second innings read 7 overs, 2 maidens, 11 runs and 2 wickets, while Kumara had 1 for 28 from 9 overs. It was a reminder of how quickly a Test match can turn, even one that had spent four days drifting towards a stalemate.

Babar Azam, walking in at 57 for 3, responded in the only way he knows how. His first scoring shot was a flowing cover drive off Kumara, a full half-volley creamed all along the ground. Two balls later he drove another full delivery straight down the ground for four more, and by the time the score reached 72 for 3 he had 11 off 11 balls, with two boundaries to his name. Saud Shakeel, the first-innings top scorer with 93, was yet to score at the other end, having faced nine balls with great care.

How the Test got here

The first four days of this Test were defined by two things: a debutant's brilliance and the Rawalpindi weather. Pakistan, asked to bat first after Sri Lanka won the toss, made 434 for 9 declared. Four batters passed fifty, with Saud Shakeel's 93 the highest, supported by Tayyab Arif's 57 on debut, Mohammad Taha's 51 and Babar Azam's 50. Asitha Fernando and Dilshan Madushanka took three wickets each.

Sri Lanka's reply was built on one great partnership. Dhananjaya de Silva made 167 and Kusal Mendis, captaining Sri Lanka in a Test for the first time, made 119, the pair adding 249 for the fifth wicket, a Sri Lankan record against Pakistan. At stumps on the third day the tourists were 404 for 4, only 30 behind, and a big first-innings lead looked certain.

Then came Saqib Khan's morning. The debutant fast bowler, playing his first Test, took seven wickets for 130 as Sri Lanka lost their last six wickets for just 42 runs on the fourth morning, collapsing from 404 for 4 to 446 all out. He dismissed de Silva with the first ball of the day, caught behind, and then ran through the lower order, taking Sonal Dinusha, Lahiru Kumara and Asitha Fernando to complete his seven-wicket haul. He became only the fourth Pakistani to take seven wickets in an innings on Test debut, joining Mohammad Zahid, Mohammad Nazir and Abrar Ahmed.

Pakistan's second innings began with an early setback, Tayyab Arif trapped lbw by Fernando for 11, but Awais and Taha steadied the innings to 57 for 1 by the close. Only 36.4 overs were possible on the fourth day, with bad light forcing the players off and drizzle then washing out the final session entirely. More than 100 overs have now been lost to weather and bad light across the match, which is why a result looked so unlikely when the fifth day began.

The scorecard so far

Pakistan 1st innings	Runs
Saud Shakeel	93
Tayyab Arif	57
Mohammad Taha	51
Babar Azam	50
Azan Awais	30
Total	434/9 declared (106.3 overs)

Sri Lanka 1st innings	Runs
Dhananjaya de Silva	167
Kusal Mendis (captain)	119
Kamindu Mendis	58
Total	446 all out (117.2 overs)

Pakistan 2nd innings (at time of writing)	Runs
Azan Awais c Kamindu Mendis b Kumara	22
Mohammad Taha c Kusal Mendis b Fernando	24
Tayyab Arif lbw b Fernando	11
Babar Azam not out	11
Saud Shakeel not out	0
Total	72/3 (25.2 overs), lead 60

The declaration equation

With the draw still the favourite in the live win predictor, the question for Pakistan is whether to chase a result or settle for the stalemate. The mathematics are not impossible, but they are demanding. Pakistan lead by 60 with seven wickets in hand and around 95 overs left in the day. If Babar and Saud can bat through the first session and accelerate after lunch, Pakistan could declare somewhere around 250 to 280 ahead, leaving roughly 55 to 60 overs to bowl Sri Lanka out on a fifth-day pitch.

The problem is time, and it is not just the clock. The morning's two wickets showed how much help there is for the seamers under cloud cover, and Sri Lanka's attack, led by Fernando and Kumara, is disciplined enough to keep the scoring rate down. Pakistan scored at under three runs an over in the first hour of the final day, and a declaration target of 250-plus would need a sharp change of tempo.

There is also the risk calculation. Push too hard and Pakistan could collapse, handing Sri Lanka a small chase. Bat too long and the game drifts to a draw anyway. The likeliest path to a result is a bold one: quick runs from Babar, Saud and Salman Agha, a declaration around tea, and then Saqib Khan, Mohammad Abbas and the rest of the attack given a full final session to take ten wickets. It is a gamble, but after four days of weather interruptions, it may be the only way either side leaves Rawalpindi with a win.

Sri Lanka, for their part, have a simpler equation. Take early wickets, keep the lead below 200, and the match is safe. The morning's double strike was the perfect start to that plan. If Fernando and Kumara can add one or two more before lunch, Pakistan's declaration maths falls apart and the draw becomes a near certainty.

The weather, the real opponent

No account of this Test is complete without the weather, which has been the most consistent performer of the match. Rain and bad light have already cost more than 100 overs, and Friday's forecast offered little comfort at the start of play. Rain was forecast through the morning, with an 87 percent chance of rain at 10am and showers expected into the early afternoon, before conditions improved to partly cloudy and then sunny by late afternoon. The temperature was around 20 to 23 degrees Celsius, with sunset in Rawalpindi at 5:06pm.

The forecast matters because bad light, not just rain, has been the problem all week. Even when the rain stops, the low winter light in Rawalpindi has forced the umpires off the field early on successive days. On the fourth day, play was called off in the middle of the second session and never resumed. A similar early finish on the final day would kill any chance of a result, however bold Pakistan's declaration might be.

The news agencies covering the match were blunt about it. With more rain forecast for Friday, the Test was heading for a draw, leaving the series to be decided in the second and final match. That is the context in which the morning's two wickets mattered so much: Sri Lanka's early strikes were the one development capable of beating the weather to a result.

What a draw would mean

A draw in Rawalpindi would leave everything to play for in the second Test, which begins on Tuesday, November 17, also at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium after being moved from Lahore because of smog. The series would effectively become a one-match shootout, with the winner taking the series and the loser left to rue the weather in the first Test.

For Pakistan, a draw would still feel like a missed opportunity. They had Sri Lanka 404 for 4 and let them reach 446, then lost only one wicket in their second innings before the weather intervened. Saqib Khan's seven-wicket haul on debut was the performance of the match, and the four debutants in the side, Tayyab Arif, Mohammad Taha, Saqib Khan and Arafat Minhas, all made contributions. But a home series against Sri Lanka is one Pakistan will expect to win, and the second Test will carry all the pressure.

For Sri Lanka, a draw would be a solid result on the road. Kusal Mendis's century in his first innings as Test captain, de Silva's 167, and the record fifth-wicket stand showed their batting can match Pakistan's. Their bowlers, meanwhile, have taken early wickets in both innings. If they can hold on in Rawalpindi, they will travel to the second Test, also in Rawalpindi, knowing a win there takes the series.

Both sides entered the series in the lower half of the World Test Championship standings, Pakistan ninth and Sri Lanka seventh, and neither can afford to drop points cheaply. A draw gives both teams something, but not enough to change their position. The second Test, with a full five days and hopefully clearer skies, will matter a great deal more.

The debutants' Test

Whatever happens on the final day, this will be remembered as the debutants' Test. Pakistan handed Test caps to four players in Rawalpindi, and all four made their mark. Tayyab Arif scored 57 in the first innings, Mohammad Taha made 51 and then 24, Saqib Khan took 7 for 130 in the first innings, and Arafat Minhas made a maiden Test fifty.

Saqib's performance stands out. Seven wickets on debut, including the wickets of de Silva, Dinusha, Kumara and Fernando, and a place in a very small club of Pakistani debutants. The last Pakistani to take seven on debut was Abrar Ahmed, with 7 for 114. Before him came Mohammad Nazir with 7 for 99 and Mohammad Zahid with 7 for 66. Saqib's 7 for 130, taken on a flat pitch and against a set batting line-up, belongs in that company.

There is a wider point here too. Pakistan's Test side is in transition, with a new captain in Babar Azam, a young opening pair, and a bowling attack built around a debutant. The tri-series win in October showed the white-ball side's depth, and this Test, weather aside, has shown that the red-ball pipeline is producing players ready for the step up. The second Test will be the real examination, but the signs from Rawalpindi are encouraging.

What to watch next

The first session will decide this Test. If Babar and Saud survive to lunch with the lead past 150, Pakistan can start thinking about a declaration and a result. If Sri Lanka take two more wickets before the interval, the draw is all but sealed and the rest of the day becomes a formality.

Watch the light as much as the score. The umpires have taken the players off early on each of the last two days, and a similar call on the final day would end the contest regardless of the score. Pakistan need overs more than they need runs, and every interruption helps Sri Lanka.

And keep an eye on the weekend. Pakistan's young cricketers have a huge Saturday ahead: the Under-19 side face India in the Asia Cup final in Muscat, having beaten Bangladesh by nine wickets in the semi-final, while the senior football team play Bangladesh in the SAFF Championship semi-final in Dhaka at 7:30pm PKT. It is a big weekend for Pakistan sport, and the final day in Rawalpindi is where it starts.

Images: Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Babar Azam batting against Sri Lanka, July 2023 (Nazly Ahmed, CC BY-SA 4.0); Asitha Fernando bowling to Babar Azam, Colombo 2023 (Nazly Ahmed, CC BY-SA 4.0). All photos are illustrative and not from this match. Score at time of writing: Pakistan 72 for 3, leading Sri Lanka by 60 runs on Day 5.

Sources: Cricbuzz live scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary; Sportradar live scores; A-Sports (AFP report on Day 4); Abb Takk (AFP report on Day 4); Weather.com Rawalpindi hourly forecast, November 13, 2026.