Explained: Sri Lanka 221-4 at lunch on day three of Rawalpindi Test

What is this match? It is the first Test of a two-match ICC World Test Championship series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. khabr.pk reported on 9 November that Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to field. Kusal Mendis began his tenure as Sri Lanka's Test captain in this match.

What has happened so far? khabr.pk reported on 10 November that Pakistan declared their first innings at 434-9 on day two. Saud Shakeel top-scored with 93, seven short of a fifth Test century. Tayyab Arif made 57, Arafat Minhas 52, Mohammad Taha 51 and captain Babar Azam 50, while Ghazi Ghori added 48. Asitha Fernando and Dilshan Madushanka took three wickets each for Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka ended day two on 114-3, trailing by 320 runs, after bad light brought stumps early. Mohammad Abbas and Saqib Khan, a debutant, had two wickets each at that stage.

What changed on day three? On Wednesday Sri Lanka won the morning session. They resumed on 114-3 and lost only one wicket, reaching 221-4 at lunch. Dhananjaya de Silva was unbeaten on 87, according to The Express Tribune and Business Recorder, the latter noting it was his 21st half-century. Kusal Mendis was on 21 from 52 balls, and the pair added an unbroken 66 for the fifth wicket.

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

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

What is still open? The material does not say how the rest of day three went, or how the match will finish. The second Test of the series is still to come.