Saud Shakeel scripted history on Tuesday with his brilliant knock of unbeaten 208 as he became the first batsman to score a double century in the first Test match in Galle, Sri Lanka.
The batter really played a miraculous inning on day three after continuing from when he left on day two. He not only saved Pakistan’s defeat but also single-handedly revived Pakistan after a crumbling start which helped Pakistan to get a lead of 149 runs.
It was a match-saving knock from this man where once Pakistan was half down at just the score of 101. But he fought hard and helped his Team to cross the 450-run mark in reply to Sri Lanka’s 312.
He became the eighth batter to hit a double century on Sri Lanka soil after Sachin Tendulkar, Joe Root, Chris Gayle, Stephen Flemming, Mushfiqur Rahim, Virender Sehwag, and Brian Lara.
Shakeel’s gritty knock consisted of 19 fours coming off 361 balls to put up a total against the hosts and a crucial lead to put Pakistan on top of this First game. Not to forget, catches become crucial if you want to win the matches, he was dropped twice on 93 and 139 as well.
He shared a crucial 177-run stand alongside Agha Salman who scored 83 runs to give able support to Shakeel. Agha also played brilliantly throughout and fell short to make his century. This partnership not only revived Pakistan but also gave them a thin ray of hope to win the first Test match. Both Shakeel and Salman scored runs briskly and hit regular boundaries but the run rate dipped after Salman’s departure.
Shakeel made his Test debut last December against England and in just six matches he has an average close to Don Bradman in Test Cricket which is 98.5. He has now 788 runs in his Test Career just in 6 innings.
Sri Lanka, who made 312 while batting first bowled out the visitors during the last session of day three after conceding 94 run partnership for the ninth wicket between Shakeel and Naseem.
Pakistan went past the score listed by the hosts Sri Lanka just before lunch. Off-spinner Ramesh Mendis took a 5-wicket haul for Sri Lanka. Pakistan managed to take a 149-run lead and will be further looking to bowl out Sri Lanka as early as if they need to win this match. Talking about the weather forecast then it is not good for the week which means as early as they will be able to bundle them out it will be beneficial for the Pakistan Team because only two days of gameplay is left with the second innings just getting started.
