England resumed batting on day three of the first Test on Wednesday, but lost the wicket of Zak Crawley (78) early on, as the visitors looked to accumulate runs in response to Pakistan’s mammoth score of 556 runs.
The innings resumed at 96-1 with Crawley and Joe Root on the crease. However, star pacer Shaheen Afridi struck early in the day as the English batter got caught at the hands of Aamir Jamal while trying to play a shot on the legside.
The match, first in the three-match series, is being played at the Multan Cricket Stadium and is part of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25.
With Root (49*) and Ben Duckett (34*) on the crease, the score stands at 162-2 with the English side trailing by 394 runs.
England are being led by Ollie Pope in the first Test after the visitors’ captain Ben Stokes was ruled out of the contest due to a hamstring injury in the Hundred League.
Earlier in the match on day two, right-arm pacer Naseem Shah struck in his first over and sent England skipper Pope to the pavilion.
The day began kicked off with Pakistan at 328/4 with Saud Shakeel and Naseem on the crease. Naseem (33) was dismissed after Harry Brook caught the ball in the 105.4 overs.
Salman Ali Agha’s unbeaten ton and Shakeel’s 82 guided Pakistan to a respectable total against England at the conclusion of the first innings within 149 overs on Tuesday.
Playing XI
Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmad
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir
