Dhananjaya de Silva cruised to his sixth Test century 166-ball 102 in 237 minutes inclusive of 15 boundaries in what was a rain dampening limbo as Sri Lanka declared the first innings on 308 for 6 wickets. But that was not the end of the story at Rawalpindi on the fifth and final day of the first Test yesterday as Pakistan sent all of seven Sri Lankan bowlers on a leather hunt with opening batsman Abid Ali and one drop batsman Babar Azam plundering centuries in an imposing reply of 252 for 2 in 70 overs at a run rate of 3.6 in the drawn first Test match.
The final day yielding three centurions did serve in taking the bore off the rain hampered match that was some feasting for an otherwise disappointed home crowd. Ali made 109 off 201 balls and consuming 298 balls containing 11 boundaries and Babar Azam 102 off 128 balls in 150 minutes spiced with 14 boundaries.
For Dhananjaya de Silva, who termed this his second best three figure effort after his maiden ton against Australia in 2016, it was a personal milestone of becoming the only Sri Lankan batsman to score two tons this year in the wake of his ton against New Zealand in the home series against New Zealand in August.
CHIEF SCORES:
Sri Lanka 308/6 decl. (97 Overs) Run rate: 3.17
(D.M. de Silva n.o. 102, M.D.K. Perera n.o. 16, Shaheen Shah Afridi 2/58, Naseen Shah 2/92)
Pakistan 1st Innings 252/2 (70 Overs) (Run rate: 3.6)
(Abid Ali n.o. 109, Babar Azam n.o. 102, Azhar Ali 36, C.A.K. Rajitha 1/5 , C.B.R.L.S. Kumara 1/46)
By Srian Obeyesekere
-The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Sri Lanka Cricket-
