MULTAN: Pakistan captain Shan Masood smashed 151 and forged a 253-run partnership with fellow centurion Abdullah Shafique to put the hosts on course for a massive first innings total in the opening Test against England on Monday.

Shan, who compiled his first Test ton in four years, smashed 151 off 177 balls while Abdullah also returned to form with a fluent 102 as Pakistan dominated the opening day against a new-look England pace attack at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

England, led by Ollie Pope in the absence of the injured Ben Stokes, managed to get rid of both the batters in the final session of the day but Pakistan reached 328-4 at stumps, vindicating Shan’s decision to bat after winning the toss.

Saud Shakeel was batting on a fluent 35 at stumps with nightwatchman Naseem Shah yet to open his account at the other end.

Gus Atkinson claimed 2-70 but it was toil with little success on an unresponsive pitch for England’s inexperienced seam attack led by Chris Woakes in the searing heat of Multan.

Jack Leach, returning after a spell out of the team, picked up 1-61 on a wicket which had a tinge of grass but gave little assistance to pace or spin.

Woakes trapped Babar Azam lbw for 30 with the second new ball in the penultimate over of the day. Pakistan’s former captain hasn’t scored a half-century in his last 17 innings.

Shan, who hit 13 fours and two sixes, and Abdullah got on top of off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, who was wicket-less in his 18 overs and conceded 71 runs.

“The way Shan and I made the partnership, it was crucial for us,” said Abdullah. “Red-ball cricket is not an easy game. The main thing I was focusing on was the process. If I do good things in the process then I’m able to do well in the match.”

Shan had been under the microscope after losing five successive Tests since he was appointed captain last year. Pakistan’s top-order was also criticised after losing the home series to Bangladesh 2-0, during which Abdullah scored 42 runs in four innings.

“Thanks to the management that they backed me in my lean phase,” added Abdullah. “I am happy that I have contributed today. As a batting unit, we have done well but we still need to carry on tomorrow.”

Assistant coach Jeetan Patel was satisfied with the hard work put in by England’s bowlers.

“The toil the bowlers put in today was great,” said former New Zealand spinner Patel. “They tried different things to take wickets, with different fields. We are pretty happy with what we have ended up with. We would have liked them six down or all out but it’s a sub-continental pitch.”

Pakistan did not start well and opener Saim Ayub tickled an Atkinson delivery down the leg side to be caught behind in the fourth over of the day with the total on eight.

The visitors thought they had a second when pace bowler Brydon Carse, on debut, trapped Shan in front on 16 and umpire Kumar Dharmasena gave him out. However, a review showed the ball had pitched outside the leg stump.

Shan went on the attack against Bashir, hitting the off-spinner for four boundaries before two more off Atkinson took him to his 11th Test fifty.

Abdullah got a reprieve on 35 when he went for a risky single and England’s stand-in captain Ollie Pope’s direct throw narrowly missed the stumps.

The batter stepped out and hit spinner Bashir for a six to bring up his fifty.

Shan used his feet well against Bashir and pierced the gaps on the off side with precision against the pace bowlers as he reached his century after lunch off 102 balls.

Abdullah reached the 100-mark in style hitting spinner Leach for a six before Atkinson broke the stand.

A tired-looking Abdullah played away from his body to spoon a catch to Pope at cover point. His 102 included 10 fours and two sixes.

Shan had crossed the 150-mark by then and he too retur­ned soon giving Leach a return catch.

It was a great opportunity for Babar to end his run drought and Pakistan’s batting mainstay got a decent start too before Woakes, armed with the new ball, returned to trap him lbw.

Babar, who raised 61 runs with Saud, reviewed the decision but could not get it reversed.

England Test captain Stokes missed the series opener because of a hamstring injury, but he presented a maiden Test cap to Durham team-mate Carse, who bowled consistently at 140mph early in his spell.

Both teams picked three fast bowlers and two spinners, hoping that the pitch would offer new-ball help to the seamers before taking spin later in the match.

The remaining Tests are in Multan (Oct 15-19) and Rawal­pindi (Oct 24-28).

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN (1st Innings):

Abdullah Shafique c Pope b Atkinson 102

Saim Ayub c Smith b Atkinson 4

Shan Masood c&b Leach 151

Babar Azam lbw Woakes 30

Saud Shakeel not out 35

Naseem Shah not out 0

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-1, NB-1, W-3) 6

TOTAL (for four wkts, 86 overs) 328

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-8 (Saim), 2-261 (Abdullah), 3-263 (Shan), 4-324 (Babar)

STILL TO BAT: Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Aamer Jamal, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Abrar Ahmed

BOWLING: Woakes 15-2-58-1; Atkinson 15-2-70-2 (2w, 1nb); Carse 14-2-52-0 (1w); Bashir 18-2-71-0; Leach 21-4-61-1; Root 3-0-14-0

ENGLAND: Z. Crawley, B. Duckett, O. Pope (captain), J. Root, H. Brook, J. Smith, C. Woakes, B. Carse, G. Atkinson, J. Leach, S. Bashir

UMPIRES: Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka), Sharfuddoula Saikat (Bangladesh)

TV UMPIRE: Christopher Gaffaney (New Zealand)

MATCH REFEREE: Richie Richardson (West Indies)

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2024