After bowling out England for 267 in their first innings, Pakistan faced trouble due to slumping top order batting line-ups as they lose three wickets on the first day of the deciding third Test being played at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday.

England’s Shoaib Bashir sent off Abdullah Shafique (14) in 9th over, whereas, Jack Leach ended Saim Ayub’s innings at 19 in 12th over. Gus Atkinson gave a big blow to the hosts by claiming Kamran Ghulam’s wicket for 3.

However, skipper Shan Masood (16) along with Saud Shakeel (16) made Pakistan’s slumping lineup steady at the conclusion of day 1 of the series decider at 73/3.

The three-test series is level at 1-1.

Earlier, Jamie Smith (89) and Ben Duckett (52) scored fifties but England’s most frontline batters overall struggled against the turning ball.

Pakistan’s spin duo of Sajid Khan and Noman Ali ran through the England lineup as they claimed six and three wickets, respectively, followed by Zahid Mahmood took one wicket.

After departure of skipper Ben Stokes (12), Jamie Smith revived his side by scoring crucial 89 runs off 119 balls along with Atkinson’s 39 off 71. Zahid removed Smith in 62nd over, whereas, Atkinson was caught and bowled by Noman.

Pakistan’s spin trap led by Sajid Khan and Noman Ali on Thursday wreaked havoc on England to dismiss the top half of their batting lineup in one session reducing the tourists to 110-5 on the opening day of the deciding third Test at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

Ben Duckett (52) gave England a decent start but captain Ben Stokes, batting on six, was left to rue his decision to bat first on a turning track. Jamie Smith was batting on five at the break with England facing a massive job to rebuild the innings.

With the series levelled at 1-1, Pakistan attacked with spin from both ends with Sajid and Noman, who shared all 20 England wickets in the previous test in Multan, bowling in tandem.

Left-arm spinner Noman drew first blood when he tempted Zak Crawley (29) with a flighted delivery, the opener trying for a drive but edging it to Saim Ayub at gully.

England vice-captain Ollie Pope (three) fell to Sajid for the third time in three innings after fluffing a sweep shot.

The off-spinner then delivered a body blow when he trapped Joe Root, currently the top-ranked test batter, lbw for five with a sharply turning ball.

Duckett hit a six off Sajid en route to his fifty and got a reprieve when Noman spilt a return catch. The spinner got his man though, dismissing Duckett lbw in the same over with a delivery that kept low.

Sajid’s trademark thigh-slap celebration was on display again when he bowled Harry Brook (five), who looked ill at ease against the turning ball.

Currently, England are 118-6 with Jamie Smith batting at 7* and Gus Atkinson on zero, while Pakistani spinners Sajid and Noman’s tally of wickets stands at four and two, respectively.

Playing XIs

Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood (captain), Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Muhammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Salman Agha, Aamer Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Zahid Mahmood

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir

England declared their first innings at a mammoth 823-7 before tea on the fourth day of the opening Test against Pakistan on Thursday for a lead of 267 runs.

Harry Brook notched up a superb 317 with a triple century and Joe Root hit 262 as both batsmen made their highest Test scores on the flat wicket at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Resuming their innings from 492-3 on the fourth day of the first Test, Root and Brook overhauled Pakistan’s 556-run total by reaching 658-3 at lunch.

The visitors built a first innings lead of 102 runs with Root on 259 not out and Brook unbeaten on 218. The score marks the highest test score for both batsmen.

Both players took their fourth-wicket partnership to 409 off 488 deliveries at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Meanwhile, the Shan Masood-led line-up faced a setback as the team’s leg-spinner Abrar Ahmad didn’t come out on the field due to fever.

The spinner has so far been wicketless in his 35 overs where he conceded 174 runs.

Furthermore, the team also missed out on dismissing Root as Babar Azam dropped a sitter as the right-handed batter attempted a pull shot on the leg side off Naseem Shah’s bowling.

Starting out at 32*, Root surpassed his former teammate and skipper Alastair Cook’s tally of 12,472 as he continued to demonstrate his prowess on the field a day earlier.

Root also became the first batsman from his country to make 20,000 international runs in the morning session with a driven boundary.

In reaching the milestone, Root went past Cook again with only Wally Hammond ahead of him in England’s list with seven double tons.

Brook then became the latest member of the club to delight the travelling English fans, who stayed on their feet to cheer when Root eased to his 250 with a scooped boundary in the same over bowled by Shah.

Television replays showed the ball had struck Root’s pads but the 33-year-old did not complain and went on to better his previous best of 254.

The spinner has so far been wicketless in his 35 overs where he conceded 174 runs.

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

The first innings ended with Pakistan scoring 556 runs against England within 149 overs on the second day of the first Test at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

The innings was over after Abrar Ahmed (3) was caught by Duckett while Salman Ali Agha stood till the end after making 104 runs off 119 balls.

The second day kicked off with Pakistan at 328/4 with Saud Shakeel and Naseem Shah, on the crease. Shah (33) was dismissed after Harry Brook caught the ball in the 105.4 overs.

The right-arm fast bowler smacked three sixes, denying England a breakthrough in the first hour, despite suffering hits to the helmet and his bowling hand.

His 82-ball defiance finally came to an end when he tickled Brydon Carse to Harry Brook at leg slip, giving the debutant seamer his maiden test wicket.

The Next man in, Mohammad Rizwan, fell for a 12-ball duck, stepping out against Jack Leach and spooning the ball to Chris Woakes at mid-off.

Aiming for a century, Shakeel ended up being caught by Joe Root after making 82 runs off 177 deliveries in the 125.2 overs.

Additionally, with Brydon Carse delivering the fourth ball of the over, dismissed Aamer Jamal in the 128.4 over after he scored only seven runs for the team.

Following Masood, who made a century on the first day, Agha made 100 runs in the 145th over of the innings, after hitting 10 fours and three towering sixes.

The Men in Green standing at 549-9 witnessed Shaheen Shah Afridi heading towards the pavilion after making 26 off 49 balls.

Bowling first, England’s Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse bagged two wickets each while Chris Woakes and Shoaib Bashir took one wicket each.

Taking the most wickets, Jack Leach dismissed three players on Tuesday.

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.

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.

Moreover, James Anderson is not accompanying the team on their tour of Pakistan, as he is participating in Scotland’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

The last time England were in Pakistan for a red-ball series, they handed a 3-0 defeat to the national side back in 2022.

Before that, the visitors had played 24 Tests in Pakistan, winning just two out of them making the 3-0 win much more remarkable.

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