MULTAN: England opening batters Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett gave the visitors a flying start, scoring 69 runs in the first ten overs after Pakistan posted 366 in the first innings during the second day of the ongoing second Test here on Wednesday.
Pakistan were bowled out on 366 during the second session with Jack Leach taking the final wicket of Noman Ali, who scored a valuable 32 while batting at number 10.
Jack Leach topped the wicket-takers chart for England with four wickets, while Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts took three and two wickets respectively.
Aamir Jamal was castled by Carse right after returning from Lunch. He played a gutsy knock of 37 runs from 69 balls.
Mohammad Rizwan (37*) and Salman Ali Agha (5*) started the second day for Pakistan with the scoreboard reading 259-5.
However, England drew first blood with the wicket of Rizwan in the third over of the day. The wicket-keeper scored 41 runs from 97 balls with the help of five boundaries.
Salman was joined by Aamir and together they added 38 runs for the seventh wicket to push the team’s total past the 300-run mark. Matthew Potts removed Salman after he scored 31 off 53.
Previously, the hosts lost Saud Shakeel (4) early in the final session on the first day with Jamie Smith taking a sharp catch behind the stumps.
Mohammad Rizwan joined Kamran Ghulam and took his time to settle in. Meanwhile, Kamran continued his strokeplay and scored his maiden Test century during the 65-run stand for the fifth wicket.
Kamran Ghulam scored 118 runs from 224 runs with the help of eleven boundaries before getting cleaned up by Shoaib Bashir.
Mohammad Rizwan was joined by Salman Ali Agha and they took the team to 259/5 at Stumps.
Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel
Pakistan captain Shan Masood opted to bat first after winning the toss, however, the decision seemed to backfire as the hosts slipped to 19-2.
Debutant Kamran Ghulam, who replaced Babar Azam in Pakistan’s Playing XI, joined Saim Ayub and together they launched the comeback for the home team.
Both batters completed their individual half-centuries during the 149-run partnership before Potts removed Saim, who scored 77 runs from 160 balls with seven boundaries.
It’s worth noting that England are leading the three-match series 1-0 after thumping Pakistan by an innings and 47 runs in the first match at the same venue.
Pakistan made four changes in their Playing XI while England made two changes. The hosts replaced Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Abrar Ahmed with Kamran Ghulam, Sajid Khan, Noman Ali and Zahid Mahmood.
Meanwhile, England replaced Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson with captain Ben Stokes and Matthew Potts.
Pakistan’s Playing XI: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (c), Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel (vc), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Zahid Mahmood.
England’s Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Brydon Carse, Matt Potts, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.
READ: Nasser Hussain compares Kamran Ghulam to Steve Smith after debut century