On Thursday’s opening day of the series-deciding third Test in Rawalpindi, England fought back to reduce Pakistan to 73-3. Home spinner Sajid Khan took six wickets.
After England posted 267 after struggling to 110-5 at lunch thanks to a rearguard 89 by Jamie Smith, Sajid finished with 6-128 and Noman Ali got 3-8.
Pakistan captain Shan Masood and Saud Shakeel were both unbeaten at the final score of 16, with the home team still leading by 194 and the match in doubt.
After the Pakistan spinners’ exploits, England’s slow bowlers came to the forefront in the final session, as Shoaib Bashir dismissed Abdullah Shafique for 14 and Jack Leach accounted for Saim Ayub, who had made 19, on a dry and spin-friendly Rawalpindi pitch.
On day one, Gus Atkinson was the only fast bowler to take a wicket, bowling Kamran Ghulam out for three.
England’s last four wickets were all taken by wicketkeeper Smith, who enabled them to add 149 more runs.
In his 119-ball knock, Smith hit six towering sixes and five fours before being caught in the last over before tea by a mistimed slog against spinner Zahid Mahmood.
After tea, Sajid dismissed Leach for 16 and Rehan Ahmed for nine, completing his third five-wicket haul.
Britain lost skipper Ben Stirs up in the third over after the break, got by Sajid for 12 however Smith, who arrived at his fifty off 94 balls, and Atkinson (39) added 105 for the seventh wicket.
Sajid and Noman dominated the morning session, bowling unchanged for 42 overs.
Pakistan gave the spin duo the new ball after England won the toss and batted, utilizing the dry pitch’s low bounce and turn to their advantage.
Only four times in the history of Test cricket had two spinners used the first morning’s new ball, and this was Pakistan’s first time doing so.
In a confident start, Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley reached 56, but England lost Crawley (29), Ollie Pope (three), and Joe Root (five) within 24 runs.
While Sajid was removing Pope and Root’s legs prior, Noman had Crawley caught on a mistimed drive.
After scoring four boundaries and a six, Duckett, who scored a half-century on 76 balls, was run out by Noman and caught lbw for 52.
Harry Brook, the first-ever triple centurion, played 14 deliveries before Sajid bowled him behind the legs for five after he failed to hit a sweep.
On a grass-free surface that the hosts dried in the buildup with heaters and fans, both teams had three spinners.
In Pakistan’s second Test victory, Sajid and Noman shared all 20 wickets, evening the series at 1-1 after England won the first match by an innings. Both matches were played in Multan.
Teams:
Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Agha, Aamer Jamal, Sajid Khan, Noman Ali, and Zahid Mehmood are the other players on the team.
