Saud Shakeel became the first batsman in Test cricket history to hit a half-century in each of his first seven matches after scoring a half-century in the second Test against Sri Lanka on Wednesday.
Saud Shakeel breaks all-time Test record: The left-handed hitter, who made a half-century in each of his first six Test matches, outperformed the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Basil Butcher, Saeed Ahmad, and Bert Sutcliffe with his astonishing consistency.
When Pakistan’s first match hero Saud Shakeel stepped out to bat, Pakistan was 210/3 to Sri Lanka’s 166.
The in-form batter took little time to adjust to the environment and quickly formed a crucial partnership for the touring team.
Before Asitha Fernando bowled him out in the 81st over with Pakistan at 319/4, he performed superbly, scoring a 57-run innings off 110 deliveries and striking six boundaries.
Saud Shakeel’s record-breaking half-century helped him and Abdullah Shafique form a crucial fourth-wicket partnership. They increased the total by 109 runs, helping Pakistan increase their advantage from the first inning to 153.
“Pakistan’s Productive Day 3 despite Babar Azam’s Dismissal and Rain Interruption in Second Test Match”
Despite losing their skipper Babar Azam, Pakistan, who had resumed their first innings at 178/2 overnight, had a productive first session of Day 3 as the visiting team jumped out to a commanding 107-run lead.
The Pakistani captain Babar was once again dismissed by Prabath Jayasuriya in the first half of the first session of day three, breaking the partnership of Babar and Shafique, who had been batting since the last session of the first day.
The left-arm spinner outrightly caught Babar Azam, denying him a fifty-run mark and granting Sri Lanka a much-needed victory. Babar Azam was just 11 runs away from reaching the milestone when he was caught.
In 75 deliveries, he scored 39 runs, including four boundaries and a six.
Notably, Rain ruined the second day of the ongoing second Test match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
On a crucial second day, there could only be 10 overs of play due to the ongoing downpour.
When the rain stopped, Pakistan had a 12-run advantage and were 178/2.