Centurions De Silva and Mendis flay inexperienced Pakistan attack to boost Sri Lanka in 1st test

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) — Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis smashed centuries against Pakistan’s inexperienced bowling attack to take Sri Lanka to a formidable 404-4 at stumps on Day 3 of the first cricket test on Wednesday.

De Silva struck an unbeaten 167 with 20 fours to raise his 14th test hundred, while Mendis celebrated his elevation to the test captaincy with 117 not out, featuring 10 fours and four sixes.

The aggressive double-century stand between the former and current test captains pushed Sri Lanka within 30 runs of Pakistan’s first-innings 434-9 declared.

“We need to get a good first-innings lead,” No. 4 batter Kamindu Mendis said after his knock of 58. “Two set batsmen are at the crease and hopefully they’ll play well tomorrow as well.

“We haven’t yet decided when we will declare, but we have to score more runs in the first session tomorrow. I feel maybe tomorrow evening or on the last day it (the wicket) might get good for spinners and there’s something in it for the fast bowlers too.”

De Silva and Kusal Mendis toyed with Pakistan’s bowlers, except for the accurate Mohammad Abbas (2-64), to combine in an unbroken stand of 249, Sri Lanka's highest for the fifth wicket against Pakistan.

Thilan Samaraweera and Tillakaratne Dilshan held the previous record of 207, which arrived in Lahore during the 2009 tour when the tourists came under a terrorist attack.

Pakistan’s solitary success on another curtailed day caused by fading light came in the first session when Abbas found the edge of the bat of Kamindu Mendis.

Going into the test with two debutant bowlers, Arafat Minhas (0-92) and Saqib Khan (2-105), along with Razaullah (0-127), who has played in only one test, may have backfired for Pakistan.

De Silva, who resumed on 22 overnight with Sri Lanka struggling at 114-3, got a reprieve on 38 when Saud Shakeel spilled a regulation first-slip catch off a loose drive.

It was the only chance given by the batters all day.

After a guarded latter half of the first session when Kamindu Mendis was dismissed for 58, De Silva and Kusal Mendis took charge against Minhas’ left-arm spin while fast bowlers Razaullah and Saqib strayed in their lines and lengths.

De Silva raised his hundred off 151 balls with a well-timed boundary through mid-on against Minhas in the second session, and then continued to show plenty of aggression, even when Pakistan took the second new ball.

Mendis was particularly aggressive, hitting Minhas for two straight sixes and once pulling Razaullah for a big six over deep fine leg as Pakistan skipper Babar Azam ran out of ideas.

Mendis raised his century off 152 balls with a ramped boundary over the wicketkeeper’s head in the final session before play ended with 23 overs still to be bowled.

“I would like to give credit to both batters, they played really well,” Abbas said. “We gave our effort and beat the bat on a number of occasions, but that’s the beauty of test cricket. The cricket board wants to bring in new faces and give them a chance. They are learning.”

See AP’s full cricket coverage here

Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis celebrates after scoring a hundred during the third day of the first Test cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis follows the ball after playing a shot during the third day of the first Test cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Sri Lanka's Dhananjaya de Silva plays a shot during the third day of the first Test cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Sri Lanka's Dhananjaya de Silva, left, celebrates with Kusal Mendis after scoring 150 runs during the third day of the first Test cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis follows the ball after playing a shot during the third day of the first Test cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Pakistan's Mohammad Abbas, center, celebrates after taking the wicket of Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis during the third day of the first Test cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Sri Lanka's Dhananjaya de Silva plays a shot during the third day of the first Test cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis, left, and Dhananjaya de Silva run between the wickets during the third day of the first Test cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Pope Leo XIV told inmates at an Argentine prison with a dark history tied to the military dictatorship that there is always hope for redemption and reconciliation, as he spent his final morning in Argentina on Wednesday offering an uplifting message to a polarized country.

Leo visited Devoto Prison before celebrating his final Mass at Argentina’s national shrine, the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Luján, where 1 million people were expected — the latest of the record-setting crowds that have welcomed Leo on the first papal visit to Argentina in nearly four decades.

Both sites have important sentimental connections to Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, who never returned home during his 12-year pontificate. But Leo’s final stops in Argentina pale in comparison to the emotional highlight of his South American trip, when he returns to his adopted homeland of Peru later Wednesday.

A massive national party is planned to greet the Chicago-born Leo, who spent more than two decades as a missionary priest and bishop in Peru and holds dual citizenship in the United States and Peru. He’s known to Peruvians as Padre Robert and beloved for ministering to poor communities, especially in times of crisis.

In Buenos Aires, Leo visited Devoto Prison, where Francis often ministered as the city’s archbishop, celebrating Mass, going into cellblocks housing inmates with AIDS and washing prisoners’ feet during the annual Holy Week ritual.

The prison, inaugurated in 1927, is being shut down permanently, with its more than 1,000 inmates moving to a new penitentiary complex. Only about 75 prisoners were on hand for Leo’s visit, chosen primarily because they were active in the prison’s religious programming, said the prison chaplain, the Rev. Matías De Martini.

Wearing identical white uniforms, they sat in rows in the prison gymnasium, facing a stage bearing the flags of Argentina and the Holy See, and a statue of the Virgin of Luján, which Francis had gifted to the prison during his years as archbishop.

The prison is grim and shows its age. Its corridors were dank, and harsh fluorescent light glinted off the worn bars dividing each wing. Red fire extinguishers lined the main hallway, and guards stood at attention, some holding plastic riot shields.

Leo heard stories from inmates of lives marked by drug addiction, crime and homelessness. He told them that their “troubling realities” are all too familiar.

“The sense of omnipotence produced by drugs, the false power that comes from easy money, the cowardly sense of security that comes from inflicting violence upon the weakest, and the impunity that results from corruption,” he said.

He urged them to use their time in prison, and the limitations they face, as a chance for redemption.

“The evil that assails the human heart wreaks havoc on society and on the lives of many people, sometimes reaching extremes of inhumanity,” he said. But he said that a light continues to shine.

“This means that even amid the evil, pain and deepest failures you may have experienced or caused, your present circumstances can become an opportunity to begin your lives anew,” he said.

Leo didn’t refer explicitly to the prison’s dark history, but his reference to impunity and corruption could be seen as directed not just at the current inmates and prison administrators but at past eras as well.

During Argentina’s last military dictatorship (1976–1983), Devoto functioned as a clandestine detention and torture center. It was designated a Memory Site in 2012 to ensure the military repression isn’t forgotten.

Human rights lawyers have petitioned the courts to block any sale or disposal of the prison’s land and facilities once all inmates are transferred, saying “the space must be preserved until the investigations regarding the crimes against humanity that occurred” there are finalized.

In 1978, during Argentina’s military dictatorship, 65 inmates held on ordinary criminal charges were killed at Devoto in what became known as the Seventh Pavilion Massacre. The military government described the killings as a riot and covered them up.

Nearly a half-century later, in December 2025, a federal court found that 153 inmates had been tortured, including the 65 who died in a fire that broke out as guards violently cracked down on the prisoners, and called the events grave human rights violations. It sentenced two former prison chiefs, Juan Carlos Ruiz and Horacio Martín Galíndez, to 25 years in prison. Both men were over 90.

Leo has carried on Francis’ practice of meeting inmates on his foreign trips, reminding them that they aren’t alone and remain beloved children of God. Leo’s last such visit, to a prison in Equatorial Guinea, produced some of the most chilling moments of his pontificate, when inmates were forced to sing and dance for him in pouring rain.

For Francis, that ministry began at Devoto, De Martini said.

“As pope, you’ll remember he sometimes said, ‘Whenever I walk into a prison, I always think, why them and not me?’” he said. “Well, that’s what he always said here. Everything he talked about as pope, he lived in this prison.”

After the prison visit, Leo was to make a pilgrimage to the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Luján, dedicated to Argentina’s patron saint.

The municipality of Luján, about 72 kilometers (45 miles) northwest of Buenos Aires, urged pilgrims to arrive days in advance because of the sheer scale of the event and the extensive security and logistical deployment.

The basilica hosts one of the greatest demonstrations of faith in Argentina. Each October, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims walk there from Buenos Aires and nearby towns to give thanks or make requests to the Virgin of Luján, to whom Francis was particularly devoted. This year, despite persistent rain, more than 2.8 million people took part, a record for the shrine, municipal authorities said.

During the Mass, the bread and wine will be carried to the altar by community volunteers, among them Sara Ramírez, who works with young people in a poor neighborhood in Santa Fe province where she said hundreds of families lack drinking water.

“With these hands that I use to show my brothers and sisters that it’s possible to get ahead, I’ll bring the offerings to the pope,” she said.

Many of the pilgrims waiting outside the basilica hoped Leo’s call for unity would ease Argentina’s bitter political divide.

“I know it’s hard to move politicians,” said Enrique González, 47, who coordinates Hogar de Cristo addiction recovery centers in Patagonia. “But I think the pope strikes a chord on both sides, and that starts to change something.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Pope Leo XIV arrives to visit the Devoto federal prison complex in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Pope Leo XIV meets inmates during his visit to the federal prison complex in Buenos Aires, on the sixth day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV delivers his speech during his visit to the federal prison complex in Buenos Aires, on the sixth day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

People gather outside the Devoto federal prison complex during Pope Leo XIV's visit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Pope Leo XIV, accompanied by Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Ignacio Garcia Cuerva, visits the federal prison complex in Buenos Aires, on the sixth day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV watches folk dancers during a youth prayer vigil at Monumento de los Españoles in Buenos Aires, on the fifth day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Faithful hold candles and rosary beads during a youth prayer vigil with Pope Leo XIV at Monumento de los Españoles in Buenos Aires, on the fifth day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV, flanked by Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva, left, holds a candle during a youth prayer vigil at Monumento de los Españoles in Buenos Aires, on the fifth day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV waves to faithful as he arrives to lead a youth prayer vigil in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)