England’s top spot collapsed against spin-rich Pakistan on a pitch reused after Ben Duckett hit a solid century in the second Test on Wednesday.
The tourists slipped to 239-6 at stumps on Day 2 and are still behind by 127 runs after the Pakistani tailenders held off before being bowled out for 366 shortly after lunch.
Duckett’s 114 from 129 balls looked to have kept England in control before losing four late wickets in a sensational collapse to spinners Sajid Khan (4-86) and Noman Ali (2-75).
Khan struck three times in 10 deliveries and got the big wickets of Joe Root (34), Duckett and Harry Brook (9). Ben Stokes, returning to Test cricket after a torn hamstring, was caught near the wicket of Ali’s left-arm spin after scoring just 1 in five balls.
AS IT HAPPENED: PAK vs ENG, Test Day 2 Highlights 2
Jamie Smith was unbeaten on 12 as Pakistan’s spinners exposed England’s long tail, with Brydon Carse not out on 2 off 19 balls.
Duckett had dominated the spinners with his authoritative sweep shots and added 86 runs with Root before Khan struck late on a dry wicket, tailor-made to suit the home side’s all-spin attack.
Root, who scored a memorable 262 in England’s huge innings and 47-run win in the first Test, brought Khan back to his stumps and then Duckett pushed the off-spinner to slip after the ball had enough shot from the rough.
Brook, the triple century maker present at the same venue last week, then paid the price of exposing his stumps to Khan’s length ball and was bowled flawlessly as Pakistan sliced through the strong line-up of English batting with its spinners, who did not bowl first class. cricket over the past nine months.
Opening batter Zak Crawley made a shaky 27 and was unable to capitalize on the chances as Khan wasted a run-out chance when he broke the stumps before grabbing the ball at the non-striker’s end. Duckett then convinced Crawley to go for a successful lbw TV reference before finally getting caught behind Ali after contributing 73 runs for the first wicket.
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Duckett had dominated the spinners for 16 boundaries with his powerful sweep shots before the Pakistani spinners struck back late.
Earlier, Jack Leach grabbed 4-114 and fast bowlers Carse (3-50) and Matthew Potts (2-66) shared five wickets between them before Pakistan were dismissed shortly after lunch.
The fielders battled around all-rounder Aamer Jamal’s 37 to frustrate England, with Ali also playing a cameo of 32 off 61 balls as Pakistan added 107 to their 259-5 overnight.
Pakistan lost the pair of Mohammad Rizwan (41) and Salman Ali Agha (31) overnight before Jamal, who received treatment on his hip while batting, chipped away by adding 49 runs with Ali.
Rizwan’s scrappy knock ended in the third over of the day when Jamie Smith made a spectacular diving catch as Carse fielded the batter with pace.
Jamal and Noman challenged England in the second half of the first session as Pakistan added 99 runs to their overnight 259-5 before Leach and Carse ended the frustration by dismissing the home side after lunch.
Debutant Kamran Ghulam grabbed headlines on day one with a resolute century as Pakistan seek their first home win in 12 matches by filling their playing XI with three specialist spinners and a single fast bowler in Jamal.
Ghulam had scored well in Pakistan’s domestic seasons over the last four years, but got his chance after Pakistan rested their opening batter Babar Azam for the remaining two Test matches of the series against England.
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