Saqib picks seven as Pakistan chip at Sri Lanka's grip
Bad light robbed the teams of a plenty of overs on Day 4 in Rawalpindi
On yet another day where big chunks of overs were lost to bad light, Pakistan restored some of the balance that had swayed towards Sri Lanka in the Rawalpindi Test. One of their four debutants - Saqib Khan - finished with seven wickets in Sri Lanka's first innings as they went from overnight score of 404/4 to 446 all-out, keeping the visitors' first-innings lead to just 12 runs.
Sri Lanka looked set to soar with a big lead in their sights as they started Day 4 with two centurions Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis. However, Dhananjaya fell in the opening over the day to Saqib, edging one behind, without adding to his overnight score of 167. Four overs later, Mendis was sent packing by Saqib too - in an identical dismissal to Dhananjaya, for 119.
In the midst of an exceptional morning spell, Saqib marked his first-ever bowling innings in Tests with a fifer when he dismissed Sonal Dinusha. From 432/7, the tail couldn't put up much of a fight as they folded for 446. Sri Lanka ended up losing their last six wickets for 42 runs, and Saqib's figures read: 34-5-130-7.
Pakistan opener Tayyab Arif then took back a review with him in Pakistan's second dig, as Asitha Fernando trapped him leg before in the third over. Azan Awais and Mohammad Taha took Pakistan to Lunch at 39/1 in 12 overs. Only 9.2 more overs were possible after the break when the players were forced indoors because of bad light. Early Tea was taken, and much as they tried, no further play was possible.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 434/9 decl. & 57/1 (Mohammad Taha 24*; Asitha Fernando 1-10) lead Sri Lanka 446 (Dhananjaya de Silva 167, Kusal Mendis 119, Kamindu Mendis 58; Saqib Khan 7-130) by 45 runs.
