MULTAN, OCTOBER 8
England chipped at Pakistan's massive 556, three-centuries total by reaching 96-1 at stumps on day two Tuesday of the first test.
Pakistan started the day on 328-4 and was spearheaded by Salman Ali Agha's unbeaten 104 and Saud Shakeel's 82.
On a pitch which still looks good for batting with little help for fast bowlers or spinners, England raced at nearly five runs per over as Zac Crawley smashed 11 fours in his unbeaten 64. Joe Root was not out on 32.
England lost stand-in captain Ollie Pope without scoring in the second over to a stunning one-handed catch by a diving Aamer Jamal at midwicket off Naseem Shah. England trails Pakistan by 460 runs.
Pope had to open the innings after Ben Duckett injured his left thumb while grabbing a sharp chest-high catch of No. 11 Abrar Ahmed in the slips that finally ended England's sweaty 5 1/2 sessions on the field at humid Multan Stadium.
Fast bowler Brydon Carse was hopeful Duckett will recover overnight and bat on day three.
"He's just taken a knock on his thumb, but he will be assessed overnight and he'll be back batting tomorrow," Carse said.
England's Jack Leach took 3-160 and Shoaib Bashir 1-124 but Pakistan dominated both spinners.
Carse's long wait for his first wicket in his debut test came on Tuesday, which he finished with 2-74. Gus Atkinson (2-99) and Chris Woakes (1-69) toiled without finding any reverse swing on the green square.
"Last two days have been immensely tough conditions for everyone out there," Carse said.
"We didn't get that much out of it (pitch) over the couple of days, but credit to the team and everyone for keep coming back in each session. There's some tired bodies in the camp at the moment, but the lads will rest up and come again tomorrow."
England did well in the first session and allowed Pakistan only 69 runs with Carse breaking the resistance of nightwatchman Naseem, who gloved a legside catch after his test-best 33.
Naseem denied England a breakthrough for 1 1/2 hours and braved a couple of blows. He got a knock on the back of his helmet when he was struck hard by an Atkinson short ball and also received brief treatment when Carse struck the batter's right thumb off another short ball before round-the-wicket worked for the right arm fast bowler.
Leach had Mohammad Rizwan caught at mid-off for a 12-ball duck.
Shakeel, who began the day on 35, showed plenty of resistance and raised his half-century with a swept boundary off Bashir. Shakeel was undone by the off-spinner after lunch and feathered a low catch to Root in the slips.
Agha, dropped early by Woakes on the boundary, took charge with meticulous drives and sweeps. His third test century followed tons by captain Shan Masood (151) and Abdullah Shafique (102) on day one.
Agha gave Pakistan an ideal finish on the benign pitch. In the company of Shaheen Shah Afridi (26), Agha hit 10 boundaries and three sixes in his 119-ball knock to propel Pakistan past 500.
"I believe I can take on spinners, no matter what the situation is, and that's exactly what I did," Agha said.
"I have been playing (batting) with tailenders for the last two years, so when the tail comes it brings the best out of me."
England was scratchy late in Pakistan's innings as wicketkeeper Jamie Smith missed an easy stumping of Abrar, and Atkinson couldn't judge a catch over his shoulder before Root folded up the innings.
