Overview
- Pakistan declared on Day 2 at 434 for 9 after five half-centuries, with Saud Shakeel top-scoring on 93 and three debutants — Tayyab Arif (57), Mohammad Taha (51) and Arafat Minhas (52) — each making fifties.
- Debutant pacer Saqib Khan struck twice late on Day 2 to help reduce Sri Lanka to 114 for 3 at stumps, giving Pakistan an early advantage before play was halted for bad light.
- Sri Lanka mounted a major recovery on Day 3 as Dhananjaya de Silva and captain Kusal Mendis compiled unbeaten centuries and an unbroken 249-run fifth-wicket partnership to take the tourists within sight of Pakistan's total.
- Pakistan's bowling group, which included two debutant bowlers and another player with limited Test experience, struggled to break the partnership on a green-tinged pitch and under fading light, leaving their attack open to scrutiny.
- The match combines two notable storylines: Pakistan becoming the first team in 149 years to have three debutants score fifties in the same innings outside a debut Test, and Sri Lanka seizing the initiative late on Day 3 to threaten a first-innings lead.