RAWALPINDI, Pakistan: Bad weather spoiled the second day of Pakistan’s first home cricket test in more than 10 years as only 17.5 overs could be bowled against Sri Lanka on Thursday.
Resuming on 202-5, Sri Lanka reached 263-6 when play was called off at 3:30 p.m. local time due to bad light. Niroshan Dickwella on 33 was the only wicket to fall.
Only about 2,000 spectators were drawn by free entry to the 28,000-seat Pindi Cricket Stadium.
“I came to the stadium at around 9:30 a.m., but I am so disappointed that I could watch less than 20 overs,” said Siddique Ahmed, a college student. “I wish tomorrow it’s a bright sunny day so that I can watch some exciting cricket.”
But the forecast for Friday is for more rain in this northern city.
Earlier, Dhananjaya de Silva completed his sixth test half-century and Sri Lanka added 20 runs before rain arrived after only 35 minutes of play in the first session.
The 16-year-old fast bowler Naseem Shah induced an edge off Dhananjaya in his third over of the morning, but the batsman was declared not out after video replays showed the ball kissed the grass before wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan caught it.
Dhananjaya completed his half-century off the next ball when he played an on drive off a full toss and ran for two runs before the rain came. Dhananjaya has hit eight fours and faced 104 balls.
Play resumed after a break of 2 hours, 43 minutes, and Pakistan finally got the breakthrough with the second new ball during 10 overs of play.
Left-handed Dickwella was neatly caught at gully off left arm fast bowler Shaheen Afridi, then the umpires stopped play due to bad light.
Dhananjaya was unbeaten on 72 off 131 balls with 11 boundaries, and Dilruwan Perera was 2 not out.
Young fast bowlers Afridi (2-47) and Shah (2-75) bowled with some lively pace under favorable conditions, especially with the second new ball.
Bad weather limits Pakistan-Sri Lanka 2nd day to 17.5 overs
https://arab.news/pgrhw
Bad weather limits Pakistan-Sri Lanka 2nd day to 17.5 overs
- About 2,000 spectators were drawn by free entry to the 28,000-seat Cricket Stadium
- Sri Lanka reached 263-6 when play was called off
Rublev marches on, Bublik and Draper fall at Dubai Tennis Championships
- No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev, the 2022 champion, dispatches Ugo Humbert in epic three setter 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3
- Tallon Griekspoor upsets No. 2 seed Alexander Bublik in straight sets to set-up quarterfinal clash with No. 6 seed Jakub Mensik
DUBAI: Andrey Rublev signaled his determination to reclaim the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title on Wednesday, as the ruthless Russian dispatched fellow former champion Ugo Humbert in a titanic, three-set tussle on center court.
As a two-time finalist in Dubai and the winner there in 2022, Rublev already has fond memories of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium. Meanwhile Humbert, who has also tasted success in Dubai having edged Alexander Bublik to the title in 2024, was looking to tame a second former winner in the space of 24 hours after eliminating reigning champion Stefanos Tsitsipas on Tuesday.
In the early stages of the match a smattering of vocal young fans stirred up an endless cacophony of noise from all four grandstands as the near-capacity crowd repeatedly serenaded both players with cries of “Let’s go, Andrey” and “Allez, Ugo,” the even split among the supporters mirroring the evenly matched contest.
The nail-biter of a match went with serve for the first six games before, as is so often the case in professional tennis, the seventh proved to be a critical turning point. Rublev took advantage of two break points afforded by a pair of uncharacteristic double-faults by Humbert to achieve what Tsitsipas had failed to do in the entirety of their Round of 32 clash: he broke the Frenchman.
The set then resettled into a familiar pattern as the pair once again held serve amid minimal threats. And so, after 41 minutes of the back-and-forth, Rublev claimed the opening set 6-4 courtesy of that sole break of serve.
The second set mirrored the first, this time with both players avoiding a break of serve, until Humbert, the current world No. 37, narrowly edged the tiebreak 7-5 to even the match.
With very little separating the battling duo at this point, their seesaw duel was akin to two prize fighters exchanging punches with neither able to land a decisive blow. Buoyed no doubt by the feverish support from their respective fans, both players refused to buckle.
But then, with the third set tied at 1-1, Rublev held serve, broke and held again to win three straight games and move 4-1 ahead. The match then, predictably, once again went with serve until it was 5-3.
Then Humbert, facing the prospect of elimination, suddenly found himself with two break points as his opponent wobbled while serving for the match. The steely Russian held his nerve, however, and dispatched a trio of massive serves, including two aces, to reverse the deficit and set up his first match-point.
That was all the 28-year-old needed, as another huge serve forced a Humbert error and sealed the match 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3.
“It was a very dramatic ending,” Rublev said. “I’m really happy I was able to keep going and save the last game.
“It’s difficult to close a match; you can make a double-fault or a mistake, but I made three good serves and that helped me a lot. It’s much easier to win points from the serve than playing rallies every time.”
He commended his opponent, saying: “Ugo played really well. I took my two break chances but he served unbelievably all match. He shoots super hard and very fast, so it’s not easy to do something. I had to be ready for the one chance to break him in a set, and I got those chances and was able to do it.
“This match gives me a lot of confidence, so we’ll see what will happen in the quarterfinal. I’m playing well, so let’s see.”
Rublev now faces another Frenchmen, Arthur Rinderknech, who emerged victorious from a grueling three-set marathon against the British No. 4 seed, Jack Draper, 7-5, 6-7, 6-4.
Their match, which finished well after midnight and with an eerie mist hovering over center court, yielded only two breaks of serve, both of which went Rinderknech’s way. Despite the defeat, Draper can head home with his head held high as his return to top-level tennis continues after a six-month injury layoff.
On the new court 1, Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands pulled off the biggest upset of the day by taming No. 2 seed Alexander Bublik in straight sets 6-3, 7-5. The win earned the world No. 25 a quarterfinal encounter with No. 6 seed Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic, who made short work of the Australian, Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-2.
