Sports News | Pakistan Takes 4 Sri Lankan Wickets in Weather-hit 1st Session of 1st Test

Galle (Sri Lanka), Jul 16 (AP) Fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi marked his return to Test cricket with a three-wicket haul as Sri Lanka slumped to 65 for four at lunch on the weather-hit first day of the first test against Pakistan on Sunday.

Pakistan's two quick bowlers Afridi and Nassem Shah troubled the Sri Lankan batters and Naseem was unlucky not to pick up more than one wicket.

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Afridi became the 19th Pakistan bowler to reach the 100-wicket milestone and the fourth-quickest fast bowler from his country when he had opener Nishan Madushka (4) caught behind when wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed took a diving catch.

Afridi had been stranded on 99 wickets after he injured his right knee one year ago while diving to cut off a boundary at the same ground. The wait ended in the third over of the match much to the jubilation of the 23-year-old.

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A heavy downpour after less than 30 minutes of play forced the players off the pitch and 87 minutes were lost and lunch was extended by one hour.

After play resumed, Afridi claimed his second wicket when Kusal Mendis edged a ball to second slip without much feet movement for 12. Captain Dimuth Karunaratne was the left-arm quick's third victim as he was caught down the leg-side on 29.

In the next over, Dinesh Chandimal nicked Naseem to first slip after scoring just one run, again without much foot movement, to push Sri Lanka deep into trouble.

Angelo Mathews survived a few nervous moment and was on 12 with Dhananjaya de Silva on seven heading into the second session of the day.

It's the first of a two-Test series, with the second test set to begin on July 24 in Colombo. AP

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)