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RAWALPINDI: Pakistan spinners Sajid Khan and Noman Ali wreaked havoc to spark an early collapse as England lost five wickets before Lunch on the first day of the third Test here on Thursday.
Ben Stokes (6) and Jamie Smith (5) will resume England’s innings with 110-5 on the board.
England captain Ben Stokes opted to bat first on a tricky Rawalpindi pitch. The visitors got off to a decent start as opening batters Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett stitched a 56-run partnership.
However, Pakistan’s spinners continued from where they left in the last match and Noman Ali provided the first breakthrough, removing Crawley after he scored 29.
Duckett continued to anchor through the innings while new batters Ollie Pope (3) and Joe Root (5) fell prey to Sajid Khan.
The left-handed opener completed his second half-century of the series but soon became Noman Ali’s victim. Duckett departed after scoring 52 off 84 with the help of four boundaries and one six.
Sajid Khan castled Harry Brook (5) to leave England in a struggling position with the scoreboard reading 98-5.
It’s worth noting that the three-match Test series is currently levelled 1-1 and the deciding third match is currently underway at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
Pakistan suffered a humiliating defeat by an innings and 47 runs in the series opener, consequently, the home side made an array of changes including dropping their star batter Babar Azam and ace pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi.
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Domestic performer Kamran Ghulam made his long-awaited debut, while spin bowlers Sajid Khan, Noman Ali and Zahid Mahmood made their return to the Test side.
The changes proved fruitful as Kamran scored a century on his debut, while Sajid and Noman shared 20 wickets to steer Pakistan to their first Test victory at home since February 2021.
It’s worth noting that Pakistan have announced an unchanged Playing XI for the ongoing match, while England have added an additional spinner to take advantage of the conditions.
Pakistan Playing XI: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (c), Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel (vc), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Zahid Mahmood.
England Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Rehan Ahmed, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.
READ: “Decision regarding Pakistan’s white-ball captaincy to be made after Rizwan-Naqvi meeting”
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