11/09/2026 01:44:00
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11/09 01:40 CST Arif smashes 57 on debut to give Pakistan aggressive start
against Sri Lanka in 1st test
Arif smashes 57 on debut to give Pakistan aggressive start against Sri Lanka in
1st test
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) --- Tayyab Arif smashed an aggressive half-century on
debut and provided a new-look Pakistan lineup a confident start to the first
cricket test against Sri Lanka on Monday.
The 20-year-old Tayyab struck nine boundaries and a six in his 57-run knock as
Pakistan reached 137-2 at lunch on a greenish wicket that lured Sri Lanka
captain Kusal Mendis to bowl first after winning the toss.
Sri Lanka struck back briefly by removing both Tayyab and his opening partner
Azan Awais (30) in successive overs before captain Babar Azam, unbeaten on 31,
and Mohammad Taha --- also among the four Pakistan players on test debut ---
carried the home team to the interval without further damage.
Taha had a lucky escape when he survived a close lbw review against Milan
Rathnayake, who was the pick of the bowlers with 1-18 off his eight-over spell.
Tayyab was fast-tracked to test cricket after an impressive domestic season and
showed plenty of maturity against the four-man pace attack. He showed signs of
early aggression by pulling fast bowler Asitha Fernando for a six over fine leg
and also played some exquisite cover drives as Pakistan raced to 86-0 in 16
overs.
Tayyab completed his half-century off 46 balls with back-to-back boundaries
against Lahiru Kumara, who was taken out of the attack after conceding 24 runs
in his first four overs.
Rathnayake pulled back the scoring rate by bowling steadily as he struck in his
third over when Mendis grabbed a stunning two-handed catch behind the wickets
off Awais' thick inside edge.
Fernando struck from the other end when he found the outside edge of Tayyab's
bat as he tried to play away from the body and gave Mendis a regulation catch.
Pakistan also awarded debuts to Arafat Minhas, a spinning allrounder and player
of the recent triangular ODI series and fast bowler Saqib Khan as the home team
look to beef up its pool of cricketers for the next World Test Championship
cycle.
Last-place Pakistan has won only two of the nine matches in this WTC cycle that
included its chaotic 3-0 loss in England in the last series and a 2-0 drubbing
at the hands of Bangladesh.
Sri Lanka is ranked No. 7 in the WTC standings, winning just one of its six
test matches while drawing three and losing two.
Sri Lanka has a recent happy memory at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium where it
achieved the second-highest successful run chase in ODI history --- 430 against
England in the tri-series last month.
Veteran Mohammad Abbas will lead Pakistan's pace attack with express fast
bowler Razaullah and Saqib. The home team also went without a specialist
spinner after Sri Lanka left out its premier spinner Prabath Jayasuriya.
Sri Lanka has been in Pakistan for more than a month, losing the T20 series 2-1
and the final of ODI tri-series to Pakistan.
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