Former captain Dhananjaya de Silva scored his 14th Test century as Sri Lanka reached 343 for four in the afternoon session on day three of the first Test in Rawalpindi, cutting Pakistan's first-innings lead to 91 runs and turning a match the hosts had controlled into a genuine contest.
De Silva was unbeaten on 141 from 206 balls, with 16 fours, when Sri Lanka passed 340 in the 89th over, and he had added an unbroken 188 runs for the fifth wicket with captain Kusal Mendis. The pair had taken Sri Lanka from a precarious position to one of real strength, and the tourists, who began the day trailing by 320 runs, were suddenly within sight of Pakistan's total.
The century, De Silva's 14th in his 70th Test, was reached with a boundary off Arafat Minhas in the 69th over, when he moved from 99 to 103. It was the centrepiece of a determined batting performance that had begun on the second evening and carried through the whole of the third day, and it capped a recovery that had started with Sri Lanka in trouble at 114 for three overnight.
The morning had belonged to Sri Lanka. Resuming on 114 for three, De Silva and Kamindu Mendis extended their fourth-wicket stand to 90 before veteran pacer Mohammad Abbas broke through, having Kamindu edge to wicketkeeper Ghazi Ghori for 58, his eighth Test fifty. By lunch, Sri Lanka had reached 221 for four, with De Silva unbeaten on 87 and Kusal Mendis on 21, having added 107 runs in the session for the loss of just one wicket.
De Silva's innings could have ended much earlier. On 38, he flashed at a delivery from Razaullah and Saud Shakeel failed to hold a sharp chance at slip, a regulation catch that would have left Sri Lanka four down for 139. De Silva took full advantage of the reprieve, and by the time he reached his hundred he had faced 150 balls and struck his ninth four of the innings on the way to lunch.
Pakistan's bowlers, inexperienced and short of penetration on a greenish wicket that offered less and less as the ball softened, struggled to make a breakthrough after lunch. Captain Babar Azam turned to the left-arm spin of Minhas in the latter half of the morning session, but De Silva and Kusal continued to rotate the strike, using their feet against the spinner and building a partnership that grew steadily through the afternoon.
The scale of the recovery is striking. Pakistan had declared their first innings at 434 for nine on the second day, with Saud Shakeel top-scoring with 93, narrowly missing a century, and Tayyab Arif contributing 57, while Arafat Minhas and Mohammad Taha scored 52 and 51 respectively and Babar Azam also made a half-century. Asitha Fernando and Dilshan Madushanka were Sri Lanka's leading wicket-takers, with three wickets each, Fernando finishing with three for 107 and Madushanka three for 108.
Sri Lanka's reply had begun badly, with three early wickets falling before De Silva joined Kamindu Mendis and steadied the innings. The pair added 50 runs to take the tourists beyond 100, and De Silva's partnerships — first 90 with Kamindu, then 66 with Kusal before lunch, and then the unbroken 188 — have been the story of the match so far.
By reaching 343, Sri Lanka had also comfortably avoided the follow-on, a target they had been in danger of missing when they resumed in the morning. With six wickets still in hand and the pitch offering little to the bowlers, the tourists will now be thinking not just about saving the match but about taking a first-innings lead of their own.
For Pakistan, the day has been a frustrating one. Their bowlers — Razaullah and two debutants, Saqib Khan and Arafat Minhas — could not find much assistance from the wicket, and the dropped catch off De Silva has proved expensive. Saqib Khan took two wickets for 82 in the innings so far, but the attack as a whole has been unable to break the De Silva-Kusal stand that has now lasted more than 280 balls.
The match is the first of a two-Test series, with the second Test also moved to Rawalpindi after smog forced it out of Lahore. Play continues into the final session of the third day, with Sri Lanka 91 runs behind and De Silva, on 141, chasing a double century that would put his side firmly in front.
