Rawalpindi: Opener Abid Ali became the first batsman to score hundreds on both Test and one-day debuts as Pakistan’s first home match in the long form of the game since the 2009 attack on the visiting Sri Lanka team ended in a tame draw against the same opponents Sunday.
On 95, the 32-year-old hit paceman Vishwa Fernando for a boundary and then drove him through cover for two to complete his hundred, raising his hands in jubilation before kneeling on the ground to offer a prayer of gratitude. His hundred came in 267 minutes, laced with 11 boundaries, and was the highlight of a Test badly affected by bad weather. Pakistan finished at 252-2, with stylish batsman Babar Azam knocking his third Test century with a boundary off spinner Dilruwan Perera.
Azam ended with 102 not out, which came in 151 minutes of punishing batting spiced by 14 crisp boundaries. But the day belonged to Abid, one of 15 batsmen to score a hundred on their one-day international debut — against Australia in Dubai in March his year — since the inception of limited over cricket in January 1971. None of the others also scored a century on their debut in Test cricket, which started in 1876. Abid is the 11th Pakistani batsmen to score a century on Test debut.
Abid’s feat spiced up the historic Test, the first in Pakistan since the 2009 attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus left international cricket suspended in the country.
Only 91.5 overs were possible on the first four days as rain, bad light and overcast conditions affected play. (AFP)
