On Tuesday, the first day of the second Test against England in Multan, Pakistan defeated England by a score of 259-5 thanks to Kamran Ghulam’s superb debut century.
The 29-year-old batsman took over for the injured Babar Azam at number four and stopped England’s aggressive fielding and bowling for a stunning 118 runs.
With 37 and five victories, Salman Agha and Mohammad Rizwan remained unbeaten.
The day finished Ghulam’s baffling significant delay for a spot in the Pakistan group after he crushed a public record 1,249 runs in the 2020 season.
After Pakistan won the toss and batted, Ghulam led a comeback when England spinner Jack Leach struck twice in the first hour and Pakistan, who had won the toss and batted, were struggling at 19-2.
With Saim Ayub, who hit a career-best 77, and Rizwan, Ghulam added 65 for the fifth wicket. Together, they made 149 for the defiant third wicket.
He took 280 minutes to reach three figures with a boundary off Joe Root, becoming Pakistan’s 12th batsman to score a century in his first Test.
Ghulam was bowled by spinner Shoaib Bashir just 30 minutes before stumps, ending a determined 323-minute innings that included 11 fours and a six.
England used a short mid-off and two mid-wicket fielders to take wickets, but the spinners struggled on the Multan pitch, which was the same as the one used in the first Test.
Ben Stokes, England’s skipper and one of two new players from the first Test, bowled five overs without showing any signs of the hamstring injury that kept him out of the first Test.
Matthew Potts stopped Ayub’s run with a catch at short midfield, and Brydon Carse got rid of Saud Shakeel for four after the tea break.
Bashir, Carse, and Potts each have a wicket, and Leach has a score of 2-92. Britain quick bowler Matthew Potts eliminated opener Saim Ayub following 50 years before Pakistan arrived at 173-3 at tea on the first day of the season of the second Test in Multan on Tuesday.
Before that, with the score at 15, Abdullah Shafique was bowled by Leach for seven in the eighth over of the morning.
