MULTAN: Pakistan racked up 556 in their first innings before England’s rejigged top order cruised to 96-1 on an eventful second day in the opening Test in Multan on Tuesday.

Salman Ali Agha, who made an unbeaten 104, became the third Pakistan batter to smash a hundred in the match before they were all out in the final session on day two.

Forced into shuffling their top order after Ben Duckett injured his thumb while taking a catch, England began well with Zak Crawley leading their reply with a run-a-ball 64 not out.

Joe Root was on 32 at the other end needing another 39 to overtake Alastair Cook as England’s leading scorer in Test cricket.

England captain Ollie Pope, standing in for injured skipper Ben Stokes, and drafted in to open the batting in place of Duckett, was smartly caught by a leaping Aamer Jamal who plucked an uppish pull shot off pacer Naseem Shah with one hand at mid-wicket.

It was another tough day for bowlers as Salman’s knock and 82 by Saud Shakeel swelled Pakistan’s total, which was set up by Shan Masood’s 151 and Abdullah Shafique’s 102 on Monday.

Salman built on the good work of Saud and Naseem in the afternoon, reaching his third century with a single off spinner Jack Leach soon after the tea interval.

Salman, who also completed 1,000 Test runs during this knock when he reached 71, added a rapid 85 for the ninth wicket with Shaheen Shah Afridi, who scored 26.

In all, Salman cracked 10 boundaries and three sixes in his 119-ball knock — surviving a catch by Chris Woakes when the third umpire declared the fielder’s foot went beyond the rope.

“It’s always satisfying to hit a century and contribute to the team’s total,” said Salman, who hoped the pitch would take spin in the next three days. “I think cracks will open on this pitch and that will help spinners, I see this as a result-oriented pitch as both the teams will go for a result.”

England’s struggle with the ball was compounded by stand-in skipper Ollie Pope’s poor reviews as he maintained his record of not getting it right even once in 13 attempts as captain of the side.

England were made to toil with little reward on Monday and it was more of the same when play resumed as Naseem, a key cog in Pakistan’s new-ball attack, proved he could contribute with the bat as well.

Naseem smacked three sixes in his career-best 33, denying England a breakthrough in the first hour, despite suffering hits to the helmet and his bowling hand.

Naseem collaborated in a 64-run partnership with Saud before his 82-ball defiance ended after he tickled Brydon Carse to Harry Brook at leg slip, giving the debutant seamer his maiden Test wicket.

Next man in Mohammad Rizwan fell for a 12-ball duck, stepping out against Leach and spooning the ball to Woakes at mid-off.

Saud looked poised for a hundred but was caught in the slip off Shoaib Bashir. Thanks to Salman’s free-scoring knock, Pakistan milked 118 runs from 26 overs in this session.

Salman swept Leach to bring up his hundred and kissed the turf in his celebration.

After spending five sessions in sapping heat, England looked sloppy in the field, dropping catches and missing regulation stumpings towards the end of the Pakistan innings.

Part-time spinner Root bowled a surprise bouncer to dismiss the last Pakistan batter Abrar Ahmed. Duckett took the catch in the slip but injured his thumb in the process and could not come out to open the innings. The team expect him to bat in the match at some point.

Leach was the most successful England bowler with 3-160, while Gus Atkinson finished with 2-99. Woakes, Bashir and Root took one wicket apiece. Carse took 2-74

The pacer said England’s bowlers were made to toil on an unresponsive pitch.

“The last two days were immensely tough conditions for everyone out there,” he said. “To be able to pick up a couple of wickets today is rewarding. It’s been a tough graft but credit to the players for keep coming back.”

Pope decided to lead by example and walked out as Crawley’s opening partner but the move did not pay off. Root initially did not look comfortable but gamely hung on and will be expected to anchor England’s reply.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN (1st Innings, overnight 328-4):

Abdullah Shafique c Pope b Atkinson 102

Saim Ayub c Smith b Atkinson 4

Shan Masood c&b Leach 151

Babar Azam lbw b Woakes 30

Saud Shakeel c Root b Bashir 82

Naseem Shah c Brook b Carse 33

Mohammad Rizwan c Woakes b Leach 0

Salman Ali Agha not out 104

Aamer Jamal lbw b Carse 7

Shaheen Shah Afridi b Leach 26

Abrar Ahmed c Duckett b Root 3

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-4, NB-4, W-5) 14

TOTAL (all out, 149 overs) 556

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-8 (Saim), 2-261 (Abdullah), 3-263 (Shan), 4-324 (Babar), 5-388 (Naseem), 6-393 (Rizwan), 7-450 (Saud), 8-464 (Aamer), 9-549 (Shaheen)

BOWLING: Woakes 23-5-69-1 (1nb), Atkinson 25-5-99-2 (3w, 1nb), Carse 22-3-74-2 (2w, 2nb), Bashir 32-3-124-1, Leach 40-5-160-3, Root 7-0-25-1

ENGLAND (1st Innings):

Z. Crawley not out 64

O. Pope c Aamer b Naseem 0

J. Root not out 32

TOTAL (for one wicket, 20 overs) 96

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-4 (Pope)

STILL TO BAT: B. Duckett, H. Brook, J. Smith, C. Woakes, G. Atkinson, B. Carse, J. Leach, S. Bashir

BOWLING: Shaheen 6-1-24-0, Naseem 7-0-29-1, Abrar 4-0-31-0, Aamer 3-0-12-0

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2024