MULTAN: Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed continued his fairytale debut but England stretched their overall lead to 281 to put themselves in a commanding position in the second Test here at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

Having claimed handy first innings lead of 79 in the low-scoring contest, England cemented their position by finishing day two on 202-5 riding fifties by Ben Duckett and Harry Brook.

Abrar, who claimed seven wickets in the first innings, returned 3-81 in the second to prevent England from running away with the game.

Brook was batting on 74 when bad light stopped play with England captain Ben Stokes on 16 at the other end.

“We batted so well there, it’s great to watch,” England’s slow left-arm spinner Jack Leach told Sky Sports as he heaped praises on Brook and Duckett for how they dealt with spin.

“I know as a spinner how difficult it is when someone’s sweeping, and reverse-sweeping. Setting a field is really difficult.

“They played really well, and it’s put us in a good position. I think it is a really good day for us.”

Earlier, England claimed Pakistan’s remaining eight wickets for 95 runs in an extended morning session after the hosts had resumed on 107-2.

Ollie Robinson made an immediate impact with the ball in the spin-dominated contest to trigger a batting collapse.

Robinson generated reverse swing to bowl Pakistan captain Babar Azam (75) through the gate.

Leach then took over.

The left-arm spinner lured Saud Shakeel (63) into going after him and James Anderson took a smart catch running backward to give Leach his 100th test wicket.

“It’s crazy to think I’ve got 100 wickets in Test matches just because of how difficult I’ve found it at times,” Leach said.

“I definitely feel I’m getting better and better as I play more, so that’s pleasing,” added Leach who finished with figures of 4-98.

Joe Root’s part-time off spin also came in handy as he claimed two wickets in an over to hasten Pakistan’s collapse for 202.

“There were some soft dismissals and that pushed us back,” said Saud. “We need to get them out for a lead of 300-320 and since there is enough time, a result will come. We have chased such totals before.”

“The pitch was getting a bit slower but the England bowlers also bowled well “Both the teams are playing as per their own game plan. The match will be decided as still three days are remaining. Playing defensive is not a game plan but hard luck.”

Abrar had lit up his debut Test with his bag of tricks on Friday and the bespectacled 24-year-old was in the thick of things again after England began their second innings.

While waiting to be introduced into the attack, Pakistan’s man with the golden arm ran out Zak Crawley for three with an underarm flick from mid-on.

When pressed into service, Abrar struck in his first over.

A promoted Will Jacks (four) tried to play a slog-sweep against the spinner and ended up having his timbers rearranged.

Root (21) fell to Abrar for the second time but Duckett (79) smashed his second fifty of the match as England’s lead swelled.

Duckett got a life when Babar Azam dropped a sitter at midwicket off Abrar.

The spinner returned to knock back the opener’s off-stump for his 10th wicket in his debut Test.

Scoreboard

ENGLAND: (1st Innings) 281 (B. Duckett 63, O. Pope 60; Abrar Ahmed 7-114)

PAKISTAN (1st Innings, overnight 107-2):

Abdullah Shafique c Pope b Leach 14

Imam-ul-Haq c Pope b Anderson 0

Babar Azam b Robinson 75

Saud Shakeel c Anderson b Leach 63

Mohammad Rizwan b Leach 10

Agha Salman c Stokes b Root 4

Mohammad Nawaz c Robinson b Leach 1

Faheem Ashraf c Duckett b Wood 22

Mohammad Ali c Crawley b Root 0

Zahid Mahmood lbw b Wood 0

Abrar Ahmed not out 7

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-1, NB-1) 6

TOTAL (all out, 62.5 overs) 202

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-5 (Imam), 2-51 (Abdullah), 3-142 (Babar), 4-158 (Saud), 5-165 (Rizwan), 6-169 (Nawaz), 7-169 (Salman), 8-169 (Ali), 9-179 (Zahid)

BOWLING: Anderson 5-0-16-1, Leach 27-7-98-4 (1nb), Wood 11.5-1-40-2, Root 10-3-23-2, Jacks 4-0-18-0, Robinson 5-3-2-1

ENGLAND (2nd Innings):

Z. Crawley run out 3

B. Duckett b Abrar 79

W. Jacks b Abrar 4

J. Root c Abdullah b Abrar 21

H. Brook not out 74

O. Pope run out 4

B. Stokes not out 16

EXTRAS (NB-1) 1

TOTAL (for five wickets, 49 overs) 202

STILL TO BAT: O. Robinson, J. Leach, M. Wood, J. Anderson

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-11 (Crawley), 2-25 (Jacks), 3-79 (Root), 4-147 (Duckett), 5-155 (Pope)

BOWLING: Ali 6-0-27-0 (1nb), Faheem 5-2-12-0, Abrar 21-2-81-3, Nawaz 7-0-29-0, Zahid 9-0-48-0, Salman 1-0-5-0

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2022