Saqib Khan takes seven wickets to keep Pakistan in the lead

Debutant fast bowler Saqib Khan produced a seven-wicket haul on Thursday that gave Pakistan a 27-run lead in the second innings of the first test in Rawalpindi. Sri Lanka had built a first-innings lead of 12 runs before Khan's bowling on the fourth day turned the match in the hosts' favor.

The conditions on the greenish pitch helped Khan, who used overcast skies to swing the ball incisively. He dismissed Sri Lanka for 446 in one and a half hours, taking the last six wickets for just 42 runs. Before the final session, Sri Lanka had already lost only one wicket on the second day, but seven fell during the first session of the fourth day.

Khan began his spell by breaking a 249-run stand on the fifth ball of the morning. He found the outside edge of Dhananjaya de Silva, who finished on 167 after scoring a century. Captain Kusal Mendis, who also made a century, dropped a low catch off Saqib's delivery but was dismissed two balls later when wicketkeeper Ghazi Ghori took a diving catch off the off stump to end Mendis's knock at 119.

Sri Lanka's Sonal Dinusha, a rising star with three centuries in his last five tests, edged a drive to the slips cordon for 20. Milan Rathnayake pulled a boundary off Razaullah to help Sri Lanka overtake Pakistan's declared score of 434, but Khan and Razaullah finished the morning with two more wickets. Razaullah claimed his first wicket by having Rathnayake caught at deep fine leg.

In the second innings, Pakistan batted to 39-1 at lunch. Debutant Tayyab Arif trapped Asitha Fernando leg before wicket. Azan Awais remained unbeaten on 16, while Mohammad Taha was not out on 12. Pakistan now leads by 27 runs with five wickets in hand.

Khan's performance places him among a select group of Pakistan bowlers. He is only the fourth to take seven wickets in an innings on test debut, joining Mohammad Nazir, Mohammad Zahid, and Abrar Ahmed. His figures of 7-130 came in a relentless eight-over spell that dominated the fourth day's play.