Milan Rathnayake's brilliant delivery stuns Azan Awais - (Source: ScreenGrab/X)
The 1st Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan is underway at the Rawalpindi Stadium. The visitors won the toss and opted to field first. The decision turned out to be a nightmare because Pakistan openers Azan Awais and Mohammad Tayyab Arif stitched an 89-run stand for the 1st wicket.
Milan Rathnayake drew the first blood for Sri Lanka when he got left-handed batter Azan Awais out on a stunning in-swinging delivery.
Milan Rathnayake’s Insane Inswinger Stuns Azan Awais
On the last ball of the 16th over, Milan Rathnayake bowled an outside off-stump delivery that swung back onto the stumps sharply and found an inside edge. The ball swung so much that Kusal Mendis had to stretch to his right to collect the catch.
Overall, it was a brilliant delivery that caught Azan Awais by surprise, and the southpaw missed out on a well-deserving fifty. Eventually, he returned to the pavillion after scoring 30 (50), which featured 7 fours.
For Milan Rathnayaka, he bowled 13 overs and picked up a solitary wicket. Nonetheless, he continues to be a great asset for Sri Lanka Cricket.
Impressive Start To International Cricket For Milan Rathnayaka
Milan is yet to take a wicket in ODIs, but has got off to an impressive start in his Test career. The right-arm seamer has already picked up 21 wickets in 8 games. His best figures includes a five-wicket haul.
The 30-year-old averages 30.31 in Tests and has a strike-rate of 56.60, one area where the seamer still needs to work on.
Pakistan Off To A Brilliant Start vs Sri Lanka
At the time of writing this article, Pakistan have put 208/3 on the board and are in the drivers seat against Sri Lanka in the 1st Test. Following Azan's wicket, Pakistan lost their second wicket quickly.
Babar Azam slammed a fifty but failed to convert it into a big score. Meanwhile, Mohammad Taha is batting on 39 and is closing on a fifty, his maiden against Sri Lanka.
