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Tag: Pakistan Sri Lanka Test

  • Smog forces second Pakistan-Sri Lanka Test out of Lahore

    Smog forces second Pakistan-Sri Lanka Test out of Lahore

    Lahore’s thick seasonal smog has cost the city its Test match. The Pakistan Cricket Board announced on Tuesday that the second Test against Sri Lanka, due to be played at Gaddafi Stadium from 17 to 21 November, will now be held at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium instead.

    The board said the match had been moved “due to prevailing weather conditions”. PCB spokesperson Amir Mir later confirmed the reason plainly: smog levels in Lahore had risen so sharply, and the air quality had deteriorated so badly, that the fixture could no longer stay in the Punjab capital.

    Lahore has been wrapped in heavy smog for more than a week. On 10 November, the city had the worst air quality of any major city in the world, according to IQAir, the Swiss air-quality monitoring firm, with readings deep into the hazardous range. Seasonal smog is a recurring problem across parts of Pakistan and northern India between October and December, and this year’s spell has been among the worst in recent memory.

    Broadcasters had also raised concerns about the fixture. According to ESPNcricinfo, they had reservations about the quality of television coverage if the match went ahead under a heavy layer of smog, and had been asked not to make travel arrangements to Lahore while the board weighed its decision.

    Dates unchanged as both Tests move to Rawalpindi

    The dates of the second Test are unchanged. It will still be played from 17 to 21 November, only at a different ground. Both Tests of the two-match series will now be staged at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, where the first Test is already under way, and both teams will simply stay on in the city rather than travelling to Lahore.

    The series is part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle, so the change of venue carries no change to the context of the contest, only to where it is played.

    The decision is a setback for the board’s plans to stage more international cricket in Lahore during the early part of the season. The city had been lined up to host the second Test as part of that push, but the smog that settles over Punjab each autumn has now forced the fixture out of the city altogether.

    For the players, the move at least removes one journey. With the opening Test already being played in Rawalpindi, the two squads can prepare for the second match at the same ground, while Lahore waits for the winter haze to clear.

  • Twin Centuries Put Sri Lanka in Control at Rawalpindi

    Twin Centuries Put Sri Lanka in Control at Rawalpindi

    Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis both struck centuries on the third day of the first Test in Rawalpindi, carrying Sri Lanka to 404 for 4 at stumps on Wednesday, 11 November, just 30 runs behind Pakistan’s first-innings total of 434 for 9 declared. The pair’s unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 249 has handed the visitors control of the match heading into day four.

    Sri Lanka resumed the day on 114 for 3 and lost only one wicket all day, adding 290 runs in a display of patience that turned into dominance. De Silva, unbeaten on 167 from 241 balls, batted through the entire day, while Mendis finished on 117 not out from 188 deliveries. Their partnership is now a record for Sri Lanka against Pakistan, passing the 207 put together by Thilan Samaraweera and Tillakaratne Dilshan in Lahore in 2009.

    A dropped catch Pakistan came to regret

    De Silva had enjoyed a major slice of luck early in the morning. On 38, he flashed at a delivery from young fast bowler Razaullah and was dropped by Saud Shakeel at slip, a sharp chance that went straight down. He made Pakistan pay in full, reaching his 14th Test hundred with a boundary off spinner Arafat Minhas and finishing the day six runs short of his career-best score of 173. His innings so far contains 20 boundaries.

    Mendis, leading Sri Lanka in a Test for the first time after taking over the captaincy from de Silva before this series, became the first Sri Lankan to score a century in his maiden Test as captain. His was the more aggressive of the two hundreds, featuring four sixes and 10 fours, and he brought up three figures with a ramp shot over the wicketkeeper off Razaullah, a stroke he repeated for six in the same bowler’s next over. His hundred was his 11th in Test cricket.

    The one wicket Pakistan did manage came in the first session, when Kamindu Mendis completed his eighth Test half-century before edging Mohammad Abbas to wicketkeeper Ghazi Ghori for 58 from 131 balls. That ended a fourth-wicket stand of 90, but the breakthrough brought no relief. Abbas, with figures of 2 for 64, was the only Pakistan bowler to look consistently threatening, while debutant Saqib Khan finished the day on 2 for 105. Even the new ball did little to trouble the two set batters on a pitch that had flattened out, and bad light brought play to a close 15 minutes early.

    Pakistan had declared their first innings on 434 for 9 on the second day, with Saud Shakeel top-scoring on 93. Sri Lanka’s reply had begun badly, with three wickets falling before stumps on day two, but the recovery led by de Silva and Mendis has left the home side needing quick wickets on the fourth morning if they are to force a result. The match is the first of a two-Test series and part of the World Test Championship. The second Test, starting on 17 November, will also be played in Rawalpindi after being moved from Lahore because of poor weather.

  • Dhananjaya’s 141* Century Powers Sri Lanka Fightback

    Dhananjaya’s 141* Century Powers Sri Lanka Fightback

    Dhananjaya de Silva completed a fighting century in Rawalpindi on Wednesday, turning Sri Lanka’s reply into a genuine fightback on the third day of the first Test against Pakistan. By the middle of the afternoon session, the visitors had reached 348 for 4, with de Silva unbeaten on 141 and captain Kusal Mendis not out on 90, cutting Pakistan’s lead to 86 runs.

    The hundred was the reward for a morning of careful, determined batting. Sri Lanka had resumed on 114 for 3 and reached 221 for 4 at lunch, with de Silva on 87. Kamindu Mendis made 58 before edging Mohammad Abbas to wicketkeeper Ghazi Ghori, ending a fourth-wicket stand of 90, but the one wicket in the session could not slow the recovery.

    A reprieve that changed the day

    De Silva had enjoyed a slice of luck early in his innings. On 38, he flashed at a delivery from Razaullah and was dropped by Saud Shakeel at slip, a sharp chance that went down. He made Pakistan pay in full, reaching his half-century and then his hundred with a string of boundaries through the off side, hitting 16 fours in all.

    Kusal Mendis gave him ideal support after lunch. The Sri Lanka captain, who had been 21 not out at the interval, moved steadily to 90 from 148 balls, striking seven fours and three sixes, and the pair’s unbroken fifth-wicket stand passed 190. Between them, they carried Sri Lanka past the follow-on mark of 235 and deep into Pakistan’s first-innings total.

    Pakistan had declared their first innings on 434 for 9 on the second day, with Saud Shakeel top-scoring on 93. Sri Lanka’s reply had started badly, losing three wickets before stumps on day two, and the tourists still trailed by 320 runs at that stage. Bad light had already cost around 45 overs across the first two days, and the home side will know that time is now as much an opponent as Sri Lanka’s batters.

    The match is the first of a two-Test series and part of the World Test Championship. The second Test, from 17 to 21 November, has been moved from Lahore to Rawalpindi because of severe smog in Lahore. For now, though, the focus is on Rawalpindi, where de Silva’s century has taken the sting out of Pakistan’s attack and left the hosts needing quick wickets if they are to force a result.