Pakistan set a 297-run target for England after grabbing a handy lead of 296 runs with the help of Salman Agha’s 63 in their second innings on day three of the second test in Multan on Thursday.
Pakistan’s top order slumped after England’s Shoaib Bashir took three crucial wickets of Abdullah Shafique (4), Saim Ayub (22) and skipper Shan Masood (11), while he also removed Noman Ali (1).
Jack Leach also played his part for his side by sending off Kamran Ghulam (26), Saud Shakeel (31), and Aamer Jamal (1) which further dimmed the chances of resistance from the hosts.
However, Salman took the charge and responsibly brought Men in Green back to the game to stretch the lead by smashing 63 runs off 89 balls.
Brydon Carse ended Salman’s innings in 58th over, who also grabbed the key wicket of wicketkeeper-cum-batsman Mohammad Rizwan in 31st over.
After grabbing a crucial lead of 75 runs against England, Pakistan was hit with challenges, slumping to 77-4 in their second innings.
Pakistan Off-spinner Sajid Khan claimed seven wickets as the Green Shirts bowled out England for 291 as the visitors tried to chase Pakistan’s first-innings total of 366 in the spin-dominated contest.
Ben Duckett smashed 114 for England but several of their frontline batters failed to convert starts into big knocks.
On a track where the ball turned sharply and shot-making was difficult, England off-spinner Shoaib Bashir then delivered three huge blows to keep England in the contest.
Kamran Ghulam, who smashed a hundred in the first innings of his debut test, was batting on five having lost partner Saim Ayub (22) on the stroke of lunch but soon was knocket out at 26 by left-arm spinner Jack Leach.
England captain Ben Stokes began with spin from both ends due to the nature of the pitch, putting in off-spinner Bashir with Leach.
Stokes stayed with spin even when Leach had to be rested, pressing part-time off-spinner Joe Root into service.
Bashir drew first blood when he had Pakistan opener Abdullah Shafique caught behind for four. England successfully reviewed the original not-out decision and replays confirmed the faintest of edges.
Bashir dismissed Shan Masood for 11 after the Pakistan captain tried to flick a ball only to offer an edge to Ollie Pope at second slip.
Saim looked comfortable before falling to the same Pope-Bashir combination in the final delivery before the lunch break.
England had earlier resumed on 239-6 and lost their remaining four wickets in the first hour to concede a first-innings lead of 75 to the hosts.
Sajid dismissed Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts and Bashir to finish with impressive figures of 7-111.
Left-arm spinner Noman Ali claimed the remaining three as England lost all 10 wickets to Pakistan’s spin-heavy attack, which has Aamer Jamal as the lone seamer.
Previously, Ben Stokes’ squad had shown a strong response, particularly through Ben Duckett’s outstanding century, establishing a robust position against Pakistan.
Before that, the Shan Masood-led side got out for 366 with debutant Ghulam top-scoring for the hosts with a fluent 118 and Saim contributing 77.
England are 1-0 up in the three-Test series.
Pakistan Playing XI
Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (captain), Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan and Zahid Mehmood
England Playing XI
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wk), Brydon Carse, Matt Potts, Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir
