England’s opener Ben Duckett scored his fourth Test century before the tourists collapsed at the hands of Pakistan’s spin-heavy attack on day two of the second Test.
Duckett and Zak Crawley (27) shared a speedy 73-run opening stand replying to Pakistan’s first innings total of 366 on an unpredictable Multan wicket.
However, Pakistan’s Sajid Khan (4-80) ripped through England’s middle order towards the close of play which saw the visitors lose the four big wickets of Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook and captain Ben Stokes for just 14 runs, with the latter departing for just one, to leave England 127 runs adrift.
Jamie Smith (12) and Brydon Carse (2) helped to steady the ship on a turning wicket, adding a cautious unbeaten 14-run stand to guide England to 239-6 at stumps.
Live Test Cricket
Thursday 17th October 5:50am
Resuming day two on 259-5, Pakistan’s Noman Ali (32) and Aamer Jamal (37) shared a defiant 49-run partnership for the ninth wicket which dragged the hosts to a respectable par score and forced England’s bowling attack to work hard for all 10 wickets.
Senior spinner Jack Leach (4-114) starred with the ball taking a four-fer whilst Carse (3-50) and Matthew Potts (2-66) also contributed.
Pakistan will look to wrap up England’s middle and lower order on day three, live on Sky Sports, to ensure they have a lead before their second innings where they have a tendency to collapse, as they did in the first Test.
Pakistan’s spin gamble shows promise
One of the main features of the Bazball era is the rate at which England score their runs. They raced to 87-1 in just 15.4 overs – it took Pakistan 31 overs to get to the same figure while batting first.
Sajid blew a chance to run out Crawley when his hands disturbed the bails before he caught the ball, with the England opener miles down the track. The hosts were then further frustrated when Crawley was given out leg-before after mistiming a sweep shot, but a review showed it was missing leg, granting him two lives during his 36-ball cameo.
The Kent batter eventually departed when he nicked Noman Ali (2-75) behind to Rizwan.
Duckett strode on, though, as he notched a 47-ball fifty before reaching his century off 120 balls, arriving at both of his milestones with his trademark reverse sweep.
Sajid continued to ask questions of England’s top order as he bowled Pope with a delivery that spun in after hitting the footmarks and crashed into his stumps.
Root, who became England’s leading run-scorer Test scorer last week, shared 86 runs with Duckett, taking England past 200.
However, Root was also outdone by Sajid’s spin after getting an inside edge onto his shoe and then the stumps, departing for 34.
This opened up the door for Pakistan and they took full advantage.
Sajid struck twice in the 44th over as he had Duckett caught at first slip and bowled Brook for just nine before Noman had skipper Stokes caught at short leg, leaving England 225-6.
Heavy-hitting Smith reined in his big shots and played responsibly to add 14 more runs alongside Carse and guide England safely to stumps.
Pakistan’s tail frustrates England
During the morning session, Carse (3-50) made early inroads by finding the outside edge of Muhammad Rizwan (41) with Jamie Smith taking a sharp catch behind the stumps.
Rizwan only managed to add four more runs to his overnight score of 37 and out of the 97 balls he faced altogether he was unable to score off 22 deliveries from Carse, struggling for rhythm against the Durham quick.
Salman Ali Agha (31) scored six boundaries with one of Carse’s overs going for 16 runs, the highest during Pakistan’s first innings.
Smith, once again, came into play after Potts used the extra bounce on offer from the unpredictable Multan wicket to catch Salman’s edge.
Leach was the next to strike having Sajid Khan (2) caught by Joe Root at short cover. The catch was so simple that England barely celebrated, leaving the hosts 309-8.
Pakistan’s Noman (32) and Jamal (37) defied the expectations of a morning collapse and shared a 49-run stand for the ninth wicket as the hosts lunched at 358-8.
Rejuvenated from the break, Carse immediately bowled Jamal with the very first ball of the afternoon session, getting one to nip back and beat the Pakistan batter through the gate.
Leach mopped up the tail by tempting Noman into the slog sweep only to pick out Carse in the deep with Pakistan all out for 366.
After winning the first Test, England will hope to claim the series 2-0 before the third and final Test in Rawalpindi, while Pakistan will be aiming for a decider.
First Test: Multan – October 7-11 – England won by an innings and 47 runs
Second Test: Multan – October 15-19
Third Test: Rawalpindi – October 24-28
Watch day three of the second Test between Pakistan and England in Multan, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event from 5.50am on Thursday, ahead of play starting from 6am. Stream with NOW