After bowling out England for 267 in their first innings, Pakistan faced trouble due to slumping top order batting line-ups as they lose three wickets on the first day of the deciding third Test being played at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
England’s Shoaib Bashir sent off Abdullah Shafique (14) in 9th over, whereas, Jack Leach ended Saim Ayub’s innings at 19 in 12th over. Gus Atkinson gave a big blow to the hosts by claiming Kamran Ghulam’s wicket for 3.
However, skipper Shan Masood (16) along with Saud Shakeel (16) made Pakistan’s slumping lineup steady at the conclusion of day 1 of the series decider at 73/3.
The three-test series is level at 1-1.
Earlier, Jamie Smith (89) and Ben Duckett (52) scored fifties but England’s most frontline batters overall struggled against the turning ball.
Pakistan’s spin duo of Sajid Khan and Noman Ali ran through the England lineup as they claimed six and three wickets, respectively, followed by Zahid Mahmood took one wicket.
After departure of skipper Ben Stokes (12), Jamie Smith revived his side by scoring crucial 89 runs off 119 balls along with Atkinson’s 39 off 71. Zahid removed Smith in 62nd over, whereas, Atkinson was caught and bowled by Noman.
Pakistan’s spin trap led by Sajid Khan and Noman Ali on Thursday wreaked havoc on England to dismiss the top half of their batting lineup in one session reducing the tourists to 110-5 on the opening day of the deciding third Test at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
Ben Duckett (52) gave England a decent start but captain Ben Stokes, batting on six, was left to rue his decision to bat first on a turning track. Jamie Smith was batting on five at the break with England facing a massive job to rebuild the innings.
With the series levelled at 1-1, Pakistan attacked with spin from both ends with Sajid and Noman, who shared all 20 England wickets in the previous test in Multan, bowling in tandem.
Left-arm spinner Noman drew first blood when he tempted Zak Crawley (29) with a flighted delivery, the opener trying for a drive but edging it to Saim Ayub at gully.
England vice-captain Ollie Pope (three) fell to Sajid for the third time in three innings after fluffing a sweep shot.
The off-spinner then delivered a body blow when he trapped Joe Root, currently the top-ranked test batter, lbw for five with a sharply turning ball.
Duckett hit a six off Sajid en route to his fifty and got a reprieve when Noman spilt a return catch. The spinner got his man though, dismissing Duckett lbw in the same over with a delivery that kept low.
Sajid’s trademark thigh-slap celebration was on display again when he bowled Harry Brook (five), who looked ill at ease against the turning ball.
Currently, England are 118-6 with Jamie Smith batting at 7* and Gus Atkinson on zero, while Pakistani spinners Sajid and Noman’s tally of wickets stands at four and two, respectively.
Playing XIs
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood (captain), Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Muhammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Salman Agha, Aamer Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Zahid Mahmood
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir
