Saud Shakeel guided Pakistan to safety with scores of 93 and 97 against Sri Lanka, facing 210 deliveries in his second innings before being bowled by Lahiru Kumara. His dismissal left Pakistan at 284/8 with a 272-run lead, prompting both teams to agree to a draw on the final day. With this performance, Shakeel became the first Pakistani cricketer and only the sixth batter ever to be dismissed in the nineties in both innings of a single Test. The two sides will remain in Rawalpindi for the second Test match starting next Tuesday.
Key points
Saud Shakeel is the first Pakistani batter to be dismissed in the nineties in both inning…: Saud Shakeel is the first Pakistani batter to be dismissed in the nineties in both innings of the same Test.
Pakistan recorded their first draw of the current World Test Championship cycle after two…: Pakistan recorded their first draw of the current World Test Championship cycle after two prior wins and seven losses.
No player had registered dismissals in the nineties in both Test innings since Mahela Jay…: No player had registered dismissals in the nineties in both Test innings since Mahela Jayawardene achieved it in 2009.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Saud Shakeel came agonisingly close to scoring a century for the second time in the same Test but his 97-run knock helped Pakistan hold off Sri Lanka and secure a draw in the opening match of the series in Rawalpindi on Friday.
Shakeel, who had scored 93 in Pakistan's first innings total of 434/9 declared, fell just three runs short of his century in the second innings. The left-hander spent most of the fifth and final day at the crease before Lahiru Kumara bowled him after he had faced 210 deliveries.
By the time Shakeel was dismissed, Pakistan had reached 284/8, taking their overall lead to 272 runs. With little time left for a result, both teams agreed to a draw and shook hands.
While Shakeel's effort helped Pakistan avoid defeat, his twin scores of 93 and 97 also put him on an unwanted list in Test cricket history. He became only the sixth batter to be dismissed between 90 and 99 in both innings of the same Test match.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed a rare nationwide flight freeze on Friday, November 13, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers across the country. Officials identified a major communications outage rather than a nefarious attack as the underlying cause before lifting the halt after more than four hours. The widespread turmoil triggered immense travel chaos just ahead of the busy Thanksgiving holiday season.
Singapore authorities dismantled a major transnational illicit finance network after an intensive nine-month probe targeting illicit overseas gambling wealth. Convicted syndicate figure Vang Shuiming maintained a polite demeanor while repeatedly deflecting inquiries regarding the origins of his multimillion-dollar luxury assets. The sweeping enforcement action triggered deportations, permanent re-entry bans for dozens of foreign nationals, and updated supervisory guidelines across the city-state's financial sector.
A temporary telecommunications outage prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to halt all domestic departures and delay incoming landings across the United States. The nationwide stop immediately cascaded internationally, stranding passengers scheduled to cross the Pacific from major Australian transport hubs. Although American regulators have since canceled the flight freeze, investigators are still working to determine what triggered the system failure.