De Silva's 87 takes Sri Lanka to 221-4 at lunch on day three in Rawalpindi

Sri Lanka won the morning session on the third day of the first Test against Pakistan at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, reaching 221 for 4 at lunch. They resumed the day on 114 for 3 and lost only one wicket in the session.

Dhananjaya de Silva was unbeaten on 87 at the interval, according to The Express Tribune and Business Recorder, the latter noting it was his 21st half-century. Captain Kusal Mendis was on 21 from 52 balls, and the pair added an unbroken 66 runs for the fifth wicket.

The one wicket to fall was that of Kamindu Mendis, who made 58 before being caught by wicketkeeper Ghazi Ghori off Mohammad Abbas. Express News reported that he was dismissed at 155, ending a fourth-wicket stand with de Silva worth 90 runs; Business Recorder put the partnership at 91.

Sri Lanka still trail by 213 runs with six wickets in hand. Express News said they needed only 13 more runs to avoid the follow-on.

Pakistan had declared their first innings at 434 for 9 on the second day. Saud Shakeel top-scored with 93, narrowly missing a century. Tayyab Arif made 57, Arafat Minhas 52, Mohammad Taha 51 and captain Babar Azam 50, while Ghazi Ghori added 48.

For Sri Lanka, Asitha Fernando and Dilshan Madushanka took three wickets each in that innings, and Milan Rathnayake, Lahiru Kumara and Sonal Dinusha one each.

At the close of the second day Sri Lanka were 114 for 3 after bad light ended play early. Pasindu Sooriyabandara fell for a duck, Dinesh Chandimal for one and Lahiru Udara for 42. Mohammad Abbas and Saqib Khan have two wickets each in Sri Lanka's innings so far; Abbas conceded 33 runs from 17 overs, eight of them maidens.