KARACHI - The solitary four-day match between Sri Lanka U19 and Pakistan U19 commenced on Sunday at the National Bank Stadium, Karachi. 

After winning the toss, Saad Baig elected to bat first against the visiting side in the one-off four-dayer. The hosts posted 319 runs in 90 overs and lost one wicket in the process. Openers Shahzaib Khan and Azan Awais provided Paki­stan Under-19 with an ex­cellent start, amassing 228 runs for the first wicket. Azan scored 104 runs from 221 balls, including seven boundaries before getting out. He was dismissed by left-arm spinner Viswha La­hiru, the only wicket-taker for the bowling side. 

Shahzaib, while display­ing superb batting through­out the day, remained not out at stumps. He scored 152 off 263 balls, with his innings including 12 boundaries and one six. This is Shahzaib’s second century in this format in the year as the opener also produced a remarkable knock during the tour of Bangladesh where he scored 174 runs (323b, 25x4s, 4x6s) in the solitary four-day match. 

Saad also played the captain’s innings and scored an unbeaten half-century. He made an undefeated 56 runs from 58 balls with the help of four bound­aries and one six. These two players have so far added 91 runs for the sec­ond wicket. Pakistan will look to bank on the solid foundation provided by the top-order to post a convinc­ing first-innings total when they resume batting today (Monday).