MULTAN: Zak Crawley’s unbeaten half-century kept England in contention after Pakistan were bowled out for a mammoth 556 on the second day of the first Test here at Multan Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
At the Stumps on Day 2, England were 96/1 with Crawley, unbeaten with a run-a-ball, 64 and Joe Root, 32 not out, at the crease.
The touring side had a shaky start to their first innings as they lost their interim captain Ollie Pope for a two-ball duck.
But Crawley made an astounding recovery for England with a brisk knock while Root played cautiously until the end of the play.
The duo will resume England’s first on the third day as the visitors trail by 460 runs.
Returning Aamir Jamal claimed the solitary wicket for Pakistan on the second day.
Pakistan lost their two wickets in quick succession in the third session after piling up a mammoth 556-run total on the board.
Abrar Ahmed (3) was the last wicket to fall, falling prey to part-time bowler Joe Root. Prior to that, Shaheen Shah Afridi, who scored a crucial 26 runs, was bowled by Jack Leach.
Salman Ali Agha remained unbeaten at 104 runs from 119 balls, which featured ten boundaries and three sixes.
Pakistan posted 515-8 on the board at Tea on Day 2, with Salman Ali Agha (79*) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (13*) at the crease.
Pakistan lost the key wickets of Saud Shakeel, who scored a cautious 82 from 177 balls, laced with eight boundaries, and Aamir Jamal (7) but Salman’s strokeplay helped them score 118 runs in the second session.
Shoaib Bashir got the prized scalp of Shakeel after getting hammered for over 100 runs, meanwhile, Brydon Carse got rid of Jamal.
Earlier, Pakistan had scored 397-6 at Lunch on Day 2 with vice-captain Saud Shakeel staying strong at 67 and Salman Ali Agha, who just came out to bat, at 0.
Saud Shakeel started the day with nightwatchman Naseem Shah and 328 runs on the board. Together they added 64 runs for the fifth wicket much to the frustration of the English side.
The Pakistan vice-captain completed his half-century in 96 balls with a boundary off Shoaib Bashir.
Meanwhile, Naseem Shah displayed solid defence while cashing on the bad deliveries, striking three sixes and one four during his 81-ball knock of 33 runs.
Brydon Carse provided the breakthrough with the wicket of Naseem, taking his first wicket in Test cricket.
The in-form Mohammad Rizwan joined Saud on the crease, however, he fell prey to Jack Leach 12 balls later without opening his account.
At the Stumps on Day 1, Pakistan were 328/4 with vice-captain Saud Shakeel (35*) and nightwatchman Naseem Shah (0*) unbeaten in the middle.
The eventful final session marked the return of England as the touring side claimed three wickets including set batters Masood and Shafique and star batter Babar.
Gus Atkinson provided England with a much-needed breakthrough when he got Shafique caught in the eighth over after Tea.
The right-handed opener scored 102 off 184 deliveries, laced up with a dozen boundaries including two sixes.
Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Masood perished two overs later when he spooned Jack Leach for a regulation caught and bowled briefly after amassing the 150-run milestone.
Masood scored 151 off 177 deliveries with the help of 13 fours and two sixes.
Babar Azam then joined forces with Pakistan vice-captain Saud Shakeel and added 81 runs for the fourth wicket before eventually falling victim to Chris Woakes in the penultimate over of the opening day.
Babar scored 30 off 71 balls, hitting five boundaries in the process.
For England, Gus Atkinson bagged two wickets while Chris Woakes and Jack Leach made one scalp each.
Earlier, Pakistan dominated England in the second session as they had reached 233-1 by thanks to Abdullah Shafique and skipper Shan Masood.
The two batters extended Pakistan’s dominance in the second session and left England bowlers struggling to stop the flow of runs.
Shan, in particular, played aggressively and took 102 balls to reach his fifth hundred in Test cricket and his first as captain. His ton was the fastest by a Pakistan batter since 2015.
Meanwhile, Abdullah supported his captain with his quick running between the wickets and elegant strokeplay.
The hosts scored 122-1 at Lunch with Masood and Shafique standing strong at 61 and 53 respectively.
Shan opted to bat first after winning the toss and came out to bat in the fourth over after Saim Ayub (4) fell to Gus Atkinson.
Abdullah, who was struggling in the recent Bangladesh series, took his time to settle before displaying his strokeplay.
Meanwhile, Shan got his usual quick start and converted it into a dominant half-century, scoring at a strike-rate of more than 100.
Abdullah also switched gears at the stroke of Lunch and attacked Shoaib Bashir, hitting two fours and a six to bring up his first half-century in the last seven innings. He conceded 77 balls to reach the milestone.
Playing XIs
Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel (vc), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Abrar Ahmad.
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, and Shoaib Bashir.
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