De Silva steadies Lanka on weather-hit Day 2

Rawalpindi, December 12

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Dhananjaya de Silva remained unbeaten after completing his half-century as Sri Lanka reached 263/6 on the weather-hit second day of the opening Test against Pakistan. After bad light wiped out almost 22 overs of play yesterday when Test cricket returned to Pakistan for the first time since a terrorist attack in 2009, rain played spoilsport on Day 2 as well. A little over 18 overs of play was possible on the second day, during which Sri Lanka lost Niroshan Dickwella for 33 to paceman Shaheen Afridi after resuming on 202/5.

De Silva hit 11 fours to remain unbeaten on 72 with Dilruwan Perera not out on two when the umpires called off play. De Silva, who added 67 for the sixth wicket with Dickwella, survived a scare on 48 when Mohammad Rizwan leapt forward to claim a catch off Naseem Shah but replays confirmed the ball had bounced before reaching the wicketkeeper. The right-hander brought up his fifty on the next delivery when he clipped Naseem for two runs to the leg side. — Reuters

Brief scores: Sri Lanka: 263/6 in 86.3 overs (D de Silva 72*, D Karunaratne 59, B Fernando 40; Shaheen Shah Afridi 2/47, Naseem Shah 2/75)