Electing to bat first, Pakistan again struggled early on and couldn’t build an excellent opening stand against Sri Lanka at the National Stadium Karachi wherein first day’s play of second Test Match began on Thursday.
Both out-of-form Shan Masood and the Captain Azhar Ali returned to pavilion early off the bowling of Vishwa Fernando on 5 and 0 respectively. The last match centurion Abid Ali also was dismissed for 38 runs.
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It was the 13th consecutive Test innings of Azhar Ali without scoring 50, and nine of those even could not enter into double figures.
By lunch on the first day, Pakistan had scored 72 runs for 3 with Babar Azam and Asad Shafiq occupying the crease on 27 and 1 runs respectively.
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— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) December 19, 2019
It’s worth noting that the first Test match of the two-match series at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium between Pakistan and Sri Lanka was rained off.
It’s the 42nd Test match which the National Stadium Karachi has been hosting since February/March 1955 when Pakistan and India locked horn for the first time at the venue in the longest format.
The National Stadium Karachi has earned the reputation of being Pakistan Cricket’s fortress as herein Pakistan out of a total of 41 Tests won 21 and lost just 2 while 18 ended in draw.
In total, the Stadium has so far hosted 41 Tests, 41 One Day International (ODIs) and 4 T20 Internationals (T20Is).
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The previous Test match at the venue was also played between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in February 2009 in which Younis Khan scored 313 runs while Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera also smashed double centuries.
However in the end, the match was drawn.
Tags: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka Second Test, National Stadium Karachi, Babar Azam
