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Sajid Khan the star turn as Pakistan eye end to win-less run
With a twinkle in his eye and a twirl of his moustache, Sajid Khan helped turn the Multan rematch Pakistan’s way. A first-innings seven-for was followed up by crucial lower-order runs to help set England a daunting target of 297 to win the second Test. Sajid then struck with his third ball to remove Ben Duckett, England’s centurion on day two and a key man in their hopes of a successful chase.
Sajid may be an unassuming offspinner on paper, and something of an afterthought in selection – he described himself as “always the first to be kicked out” after taking four England wickets during the second evening to put his side on top. But with his shaved head, luxuriant facial hair and colourful celebrations he has brought some much-needed character to Pakistan’s attempts to break a winless run at home that stretches back to 2021.
Having claimed three of the four England wickets to fall during the first hour on day three, securing a 75-run lead for Pakistan and personal figures of 7 for 111 – thebest for an innings in Tests at Multan – Sajid came to the crease during the evening session with the scoreboard reading 156 for 8. England were eyeing up a chase in the region of 230-240, only for Sajid to join Salman Agha in putting on a bristling stand of 65, by far the highest of a day on which 16 wickets fell and the spinners prospered.
Salman did the bulk of the scoring, making his third 50-plus score of the series to steer the target up towards 300, and England’s pain in the field was only increased by the knowledge that he could have been dismissed twice in single-figures. Brydon Carse was the unlucky bowler, as two chances went down in the space of three balls: Jamie Smith failing to hold a regulation nick behind the stumps before Joe Root shelled another to his right, the fact he was wearing a helmet and standing in close only partial mitigation.
Pakistan’s recent issues in the third innings have been well documented, failing to capitalise on positions of varying promise against Australia and Bangladesh, and it seemed as if they were primed for another stumble after losing three wickets to Shoaib Bashir to be 43 for 3 at lunch. Saud Shakeel helped steady things, although he too had a life off Carse as Root couldn’t get his hands up to a flashed cut at slip.
When Shakeel was trapped lbw by Jack Leach, the first of three wickets to fall in the space of five overs after tea, England had hopes of wrapping up the innings quickly. But Salman immediately countered, hitting three fours from his next seven balls and going on to his half-century by lofting Leach clean over long-off for six. The ninth-wicket pair took less than eight overs to raise the 50 stand, as England’s target rose rapidly – eventually leaving them needing the second-highest successful chase in Pakistan, and by far their highest overall in Asia.
Sajid survived being caught at long-on, when Duckett was forced to throw the ball back in as he crossed the rope, then overturned being given out lbw to a Matt Potts full toss when UltraEdge detected an inside edge; he might have been out on 20, but with the DRS momentarily down, England couldn’t review for caught behind.
Carse eventually broke through when Salman spliced a pull to midwicket, belated reward for the fast bowler’s perseverance and skill in demanding conditions, and Potts then bounced out Sajid. But the spinner was only just getting warmed up and he took centre stage again, eyes bulging like a cartoon supervillain after Duckett had top-edged a sweep straight up to depart for a two-ball duck in the first over of the chase.
Noman Ali then produced a beautifully flighted delivery to have Zak Crawley stumped by a distance, the opener collapsing to his knees even as he turned to see Mohammad Rizwan break the bails, as England slipped to 11 for 2. Ollie Pope and Joe Root saw them through to the close but there was plenty of work still to be done on a pitch that has increasingly taken spin if England are to extend their winning run in Pakistan.
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Heavy showers about (100-150) mm are likely at some places in the Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva and Southern provinces
WEATHER FORECAST FOR 13 October 2026
Issued at 2.00 p.m. on 12 October 2026 by the Department of Meteorology
A low-pressure area may form over the southeastern Bay of Bengal by 13 October.
Under the influence of this system, an increase in rainfall is expected over the island and the deep and shallow sea areas around the island during the next few days from tomorrow (13).
The general public, as well as the naval and fishing communities, are requested to be attentive to the future forecasts and bulletins issued by the Department of Meteorology in this regard.
Heavy showers about (100-150) mm are likely at some places in the Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva and Southern provinces.
Fairly heavy showers above 75 mm are likely at some places in the other areas of the island. Showers or thundershowers will occur in most parts of the island.
The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
Misty conditions can be expected at some places in the Sabaragamuwa, Central and Uva provinces during the early hours of the morning.
Maaz Sadaqat crashed 96 off 51,Sahibzada Farhan clobbered 73 off 44, and Pakistan scorched their way through the last 12 overs of their innings to mount a fearsome total of 215 for 3. Pakistan reaped 156 runs just in the last 12 overs of their innings, as a 73-run stand between Sadaqat and Farhan was followed by a manic 72-run partnership between Sadaqat and Hasan Nawaz.
Sri Lanka’s batting was woeful in response. They slumped to 64 for 5 by the 11th over, with none of their top seven managing to get to 30. They limped to 133 for 7, having had their hopes of leveling the series wrecked by quicks Mohammad Imran and Salman Mirza, who took five wickets between them.
Sadaqat propels Pakistan into the stratosphere
The openers had laid a decent platform with Pakistan having got to 55 for 1 by the end of the seventh over. But it was Sadaqat who injected the energy that truly set Pakistan on course to their mammoth total. Having gone at less than a run a ball in his first eight balls, Sadaqat unleashed a spectacular lofted square drive off Eshan Malinga to collect his first six, before pumping the same bowler down the ground later in the 10th over.
Sadaqat would go on to clobber six further sixes and five further fours. The big hits tended to come down the ground, while his fours were more square of the wicket. Of the 125 runs Pakistan plundered in the second half of their innings, 79 off 40 came from Sadaqat, who pummeled both pace and spin with equal relish. Off the sixteenth over, bowled by Maheesh Theekshana, Sadaqat thumped three sixes in the arc between long on and midwicket.
Sadaqat, whose previous top score in three T20Is had been 50, could have gone to triple figures off the last ball of the innings, but holed out to deep cover instead, unable to quite find the power to lift a Malinga slower ball over the ropes. He had utterly dominated the middle and late overs, however.
Farhan sets the tone
On another flat Rawalpindi deck, Farhan made the first big charge, although he waited until spin came on to really get into high gear. Theekshana was one of his main victims as well. Farhan’s first six came from a slog sweep off Theekshana in the seventh over, before he launched the same bowler over wide long on and cow corner off successive balls in the ninth over. Getting to his 12th T20I fifty off the 31st ball he faced, Farhan began to aim big blows off the seamers as well. He was caught at deep third off the bowling of Dasun Shanaka, in the 15th over.
Sri Lanka stumble in the powerplay
An excellent Salman Mirza bouncer took the glove of Lahiru Udara in the first over, ending the innings of one of Sri Lanka’s few form batters for a mere five runs. And although Sineth Jayawardena – playing his first international in a full-strength Sri Lanka side – hit three consecutive boundaries in the third over, Sri Lanka were unable to build up any momentum in the powerplay. By the end of the sixth over, they had laboured to 35 for 2.
Imran’s spell lights up the middle overs
A full house in Rawalpindi was treated to some excellent fast bowling by Imran, who finished with the game’s best figures of 3 for 11 from his four overs. Having got Jayawardena to top-edge a desperate pull shot at the end of his second over, Imran had Kusal Mendis caught behind off a slower delivery, before two balls later (a wide in between), he took Sahan Arachchige’s edge with a quick delivery angled across the left-hander. Wicketkeeper Khawaja Nafay made two diving grabs to convert these chances in the eighth over.
All through his unbroken spell, Sri Lanka’s batter struggled to so much as hit Imran off the square, despite the good batting conditions on offer. Imran mixed up his pace, frequently going to slower balls, but his line and length control were also excellent through the spell. When he finished his unbroken spell at the end of the 10th over, Sri Lanka’s required rate had climbed past 15.
Chamindu Wickramasinghe and Theekshana struck some late boundaries, but by the time they came to the crease, Sri Lanka did not have a realistic shot at levelling this series. They lost by 82 runs in the end.
Scores:
Pakistan 215 for 3 in 20 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 73, Fakhar Zaman 22, Maaz Sadaqat 96, Hasan Nawaz 19*; Maheesh Theekshana 1-55, Eshan Malinga 1-41,Dasun Shanaka 1-30) beat Sri Lanka 133 for 7 (Sineth Jayawardena 22, Kamnbdu Mendis 23, Chamindu Wickremasinghe 29, Maheesh Theekshana 32*; Salman Mirza 2=28, Mohammad Imran 3-11, Saim Ayub 1-19, Shadab Khan 1-19) by 82 runs
[Cricinfo]
At least 139 people, including 15 children, have died and 84 are missing after a boat capsized off the coast of Djibouti, according to the United Nations migration agency.
In a statement on Sunday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) quoted survivors as saying that the incident happened near Guhere off Djibouti’s eastern coast in the Gulf of Aden near the Bab al-Mandeb strait from Thursday night to before dawn on Friday.
The boat was heading from Djibouti to Yemen with more than 300 people on board. More than 80 people – all Ethiopians – survived the shipwreck while Djiboutian search and rescue operations continued.
“Our teams are on the ground alongside local authorities to provide emergency assistance,” IOM Chief of Mission in Djibouti Alexandre Coissac said, lamenting the “devastating loss of life”.
That number only includes those buried by authorities in Djibouti. Others have been buried by the migrants themselves but they won’t be added to the official count until authorities can verify the bodies, Alexandre Coissac, IOM Chief of Mission in Djibouti, told the Associated Press.
“This tragedy is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by migrants along this migration corridor as they seek economic opportunities,” Coissac added.
[Aljazeera]
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Heavy showers about (100-150) mm are likely at some places in the Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva and Southern provinces
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Showers above 75 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern, Uva and North-Western provinces and in Anuradhapura and Mannar districts.
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