Pakistan closed their innings on 434 for 9 on the third day of the Test against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi, and their seamers then left the visitors well behind. When bad light brought an early close at 4.20pm local time, Sri Lanka were 114 for 3, still 320 runs short of Pakistan's total. A declaration means the batting side ends its innings voluntarily before all ten wickets have fallen, while stumps is the term for the close of play each day.
Dhananjaya de Silva was on 22 and Kamindu Mendis on 40 at the close. The pair added 49 runs off 62 balls in the final hour, which gave Sri Lanka some resistance after a difficult afternoon. Kamindu had a tight lbw decision go his way on umpire's call and survived a missed run-out chance, and he only just grounded his bat when a drive from Dhananjaya deflected onto the stumps at the non-striker's end.
Sri Lanka lose their top three
The early wickets came from sharp fast bowling. Pasindu Sooriyabandara, promoted to open in just his third Test, was out to Mohammed Abbas, who kept a tight line outside off stump and found enough movement to take the outside edge. Dinesh Chandimal followed when Saqib Khan, making his debut, angled a length ball across before straightening it and drawing the leading edge.
Lahiru Udara offered most of the resistance in a boundary-filled innings until he played a loose drive outside off and edged to the keeper. It was Saqib's second wicket, and he had come close earlier, when Udara was dropped at gully attempting a similar shot. All three wickets fell in the final hour before tea.
Pakistan's seamers were also more disciplined. They kept a consistent length and a channel outside off stump, while Sri Lanka's bowlers struggled to hit the same area for long spells. As a result, Pakistan extracted more from the pitch on a steadier basis.
Shakeel's wicket and a quick finish
Saud Shakeel had been Pakistan's main run-maker, moving to 93 with a stand of 96 alongside Ghazi Ghori and then 44 with Arafat Minhas. He was out when he nicked an attempted hook down the leg side off a short ball, a fairly harmless delivery for a batter who had been playing steadily. Shakeel last scored a Test century in October 2024.
His wicket was also Asitha Fernando's 100th in Test cricket, making him the fifth Sri Lankan seamer and the tenth Sri Lankan bowler overall to reach that mark. Pakistan then changed their approach, and Arafat and Razaullah added 41 runs off 30 balls in about 45 minutes with hard hitting and some luck. Arafat reached a debut Test fifty before both batters fell in quick succession, and the second of those dismissals led to the declaration. The quick scoring may also have been influenced by the chance of rain later in the Test.
Sri Lanka now trail by 320 runs with seven wickets in hand. Their batters will need to rebuild patiently when play resumes, because Pakistan's bowlers have been the more effective attack so far.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Rawalpindi mein Pakistan aur Sri Lanka ke Test mein Pakistan ne 434 run par 9 wicket par apni pari band kar di. Din ke ikhtitam par Sri Lanka 114 run par 3 wicket par tha aur 320 run peechay tha. Pakistan ke bowlers ne Sri Lanka ke top order ko jaldi out kiya, jis se Pakistan ka match par control mazboot hua. Cricket ke shaiqeen ke liye yeh mazboot din tha, lekin match abhi khula hai.
