MULTAN: Pakistan spinners Sajid Khan and Noman Ali spun the web to bundle England for 291 on the third day of the ongoing second Test here on Wednesday.
England resumed their innings with the scoreboard reading 239-6. Jamie Smith (12*) and Brydon Carse (2*) were at the crease.
However, they could only add nine runs in the morning before Sajid Khan removed Carse. The off-spinner soon removed Matthew Potts (6) while Smith fell prey to Noman after scoring 21.
Jack Leach played a crucial unbeaten knock of 25 runs, adding 29 runs for the last wicket with Shoaib Bashir (9) before Sajid wrapped up the innings.
Sajid claimed figures of 7-111 while Noman bagged three wickets for 101 runs.
Yesterday, Duckett dominated the third session of the second day as he kniitted a 52-run stand with Ollie Pope (29) before the latter was cleaned by Sajid Khan with a sharp turn.
The in-form Joe Root joined Duckett and together they attacked Pakistan’s bowling attack with their aggressive strokeplay, raising 86 runs from 108 balls for the third wicket.
However, Sajid Khan brought Pakistan back into the game with three quick wickets to leave England reeling at 225-5.
Sajid castled Root when he was playing at 34 off 54. In the next over, the off-spinner ended Duckett’s stellar knock at 114, which conceded 129 balls. Duckett struck 16 boundaries during his innings.
Harry Brook also fell prey to Sajid five balls after Duckett’s dismissal, meanwhile, Noman Ali dismissed England captain Ben Stokes (1) in the next over.
The visitors slipped from 211-2 to 225-6, courtesy of disciplined bowling by Pakistani spinners on the supportive track in Multan.
Jamie Smith and Brydon Carse joined hands after the collapse, playing defensively as they took 52 balls to score 14 runs to close the day at 239-6.
Earlier, England opening batters Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett gave the visitors a flying start, scoring 69 runs in the first ten overs. Noman Ali removed Crawley, who was playing on 27, to break the 73-run opening stand right before the Tea.
Pakistan were bowled out on 366 during the second session with Jack Leach taking the final wicket of Noman Ali, who scored a valuable 32 while batting at number 10.
Jack Leach topped the wicket-takers chart for England with four wickets, while Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts took three and two wickets respectively.
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Debutant Kamran Ghulam top-scored with 118 runs from 224 runs with the help of eleven boundaries before getting cleaned up by Shoaib Bashir.
He came into bat in a precarious situation with the scoreboard reading 19-2. He then initiated Pakistan’s recovery by forming a strong 149-run partnership with Saim Ayub.
Matthew Potts removed Saim to break the partnership after the left-hander had scored 77 runs from 160 balls with seven boundaries.
Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha played notable knocks of 41 and 31 runs respectively.
Meanwhile, Aamir Jamal and Noman Ali knitted a crucial partnership of 49 runs for the ninth wicket to help Pakistan cross the 35-run mark.
Jamal was castled by Carse right after returning from Lunch. He played a gutsy knock of 37 runs from 69 balls.
It’s worth noting that England are leading the three-match series 1-0 after thumping Pakistan by an innings and 47 runs in the first match at the same venue.
Pakistan made four changes in their Playing XI while England made two changes. The hosts replaced Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Abrar Ahmed with Kamran Ghulam, Sajid Khan, Noman Ali and Zahid Mahmood.
Meanwhile, England replaced Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson with captain Ben Stokes and Matthew Potts.
Pakistan’s Playing XI: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (c), Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel (vc), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Zahid Mahmood.
England’s Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Brydon Carse, Matt Potts, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.
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