SL vs PAK: Saud Shakeel creates a historical test record

During the second test match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, Pakistan’s Saud Shakeel set a new test record. Shakeel became the only player in test cricket history to register a half-century in each of his first seven tests. The left-handed batsman has been one of the top batters for the ‘Men in Green’ since his debut in December 2022 against England.

1st Test against Sri Lanka

Shakeel helped Pakistan beat Sri Lanka in the first test match before breaking this record. Sri Lanka scored 312 in the first innings, led by Dhananjaya de Silva’s century.

Pakistan responded poorly, losing half of their side for 101 runs and trailed by 211 runs. Shakeel then forged an impressive 177-run partnership with Agha Salman. Pakistan was still trailing by 34 runs when they lost their sixth wicket, and it was expected that they would not be able to gain a substantial lead. Shakeel then batted superbly with the tailenders, with help from Noman Ali and Naseem Shah. The 27-year-old batsman got his first double-century and smashed even more records in the process. His knock gave Pakistan a 149-run lead, which was enough to force a win.

Sri Lanka scored 279 runs in the third innings, setting Pakistan a goal of 131 runs, which they easily reached in the fourth innings, losing only six wickets.

Saud Shakeel’s half-centuries

vs England

Saud Shakeel made his debut in the three-match series, in which Pakistan was defeated 3-0. He was one of the hosts’ top batters.

• In the first test match, he scored 37 in his first innings and 76 in the fourth innings. 
• He scored half-centuries in both innings of the second test match. In the match, he scored 63 and 94 runs.
• He scored 23 runs in the first innings and 53 runs in the third innings in the third test match. 

vs New Zealand

Both of Pakistan’s matches against New Zealand ended in draws. He scored his first test century for Pakistan during this series.

• Shakeel scored 22 runs in the first innings and 55 runs in the third innings in the first test match.
• He scored his first century in the second test match. He batted for about 500 minutes to score 125 runs. He scored 32 runs and batted for nearly three hours in Pakistan’s fourth innings to secure a draw.

vs Sri Lanka

Shakeel’s first away tour was to Sri Lanka. He achieved his highest test score when he hit his first double-century in the red-ball format.

• He scored 208* in the first test after batting for 491 minutes.  He played with incredible composure, scoring a double-century without striking a single six. His knock was critical in Pakistan’s victory over Sri Lanka. In the fourth inning, he scored 30 runs.
• He broke the record of reaching a half-century in each of his first seven test matches in the second test. He scored 57 runs in the second inning.

Sunil Gavaskar, Saeed Ahmed, Basil Butcher and Bert Sutcliffe set prior records by scoring half-centuries in each of their first six matches. 

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