England finished the second day of the first Test in Multan on a solid 96-1 on Tuesday in reply to Pakistan’s mammoth 556 that was boosted by a fiery century from Agha Salman.
The tourists lost stand-in skipper Ollie Pope for a second-ball duck before Zak Crawley and Joe Root steadied the innings with 64 and 32 respectively at stumps.
You can read this too: Abdullah Shafique and Shan Masood establish Pakistan in their 50s
An undefeated 104 from Agha Salman and an 82 from Saud Shakeel enlarged Pakistan’s total, which was set up by Shan Masood’s 151 and Abdullah Shafique’s 102 on Monday. It was another challenging day for bowlers, as the total was increased by a combination of these two scores.
At the mid-wicket position, Pope, who was filling in for the injured captain Ben Stokes, was neatly caught by a leaping Aamer Jamal, who scooped an uppish pull shot off of bowler Naseem Shah with one hand.
Ben Duckett had suffered an injury to his left thumb when taking a catch at the conclusion of the Pakistan innings, which led to his being sent in to open the batting for the team.
To avoid a follow-on, England has to score another 261 runs, which is a challenge that is easily attainable on a wicket that does not provide any assistance to bowlers.
Agha Salman reached his third century with a single off spinner Jack Leach shortly after the tea break. This achievement was built on the solid work that Shakeel and Naseem had done in the afternoon.
Shaheen Shah Afridi, who scored 26, and Agha Salman, who hit 71 during this play, combined a fast 85 for the ninth wicket. Agha Salman also surpassed 1,000 runs in a test match during this performance.
Agha Salman was able to survive a catch made by Chris Woakes during his 119-ball knock. The third umpire ruled that the fielder’s foot strayed over the rope, prompting Woakes to make the catch. Agha Salman’s innings included a total of ten boundaries and three sixes.
“It is always satisfying to hit a century and contribute to the team’s total,” said Agha Salman, who expressed his hope that the pitch will take spin throughout the course of the first three days of the match.
I believe that cracks will come up on this pitch, which will be beneficial to spinners. I also believe that this pitch is a result-oriented pitch since both sides will be intent on achieving a result.
Agha Salman contributed a vital 57 runs for the seventh wicket alongside Shakeel, who was effectively caught by Root at slip from Bashir for 82. Shakeel was caught by Bashir. With eight fours, Shakeel scored.
Leach ended with a score of 3-160, making him the most successful bowler for England. Gus Atkinson finished with a score of 2-99. The wickets that Woakes, Shoaib Bashir, and Root each took were one each.
Brydon Carse, a fast bowler, started his career with a score of 2-74 when he trapped Jamal for seven. The first wicket he took in a test match was Naseem, who was caught at leg slip by Harry Brook early in the morning for 33.
According to Carse, England’s bowlers were forced to work hard on a ground that did not respond at all.
As he put it, “The conditions that prevailed over the past two days were extremely challenging for everyone out there.” “To be able to take a couple of wickets today is a pleasant and satisfying experience.”
“It has been a difficult graft, but I have to give credit to the players for continuing to come back.”
Rawalpindi (October 24-28) and Multan (October 15-19) are the locations of the remaining tests during this month.
Pingback: Pakistan fell for 82 runs - Winpkr