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Pakistan spin duo Sajid Khan and Noman Ali combined to blow away the top half of England’s batting lineup in one session and reduce the tourists to 110-5 on the opening day of the deciding third test on Thursday.
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.
The series is tied 1-1 after England won the first Test by an innings and 47 runs before Pakistan clinched the second by 152 runs, both played in Multan.
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.
Pakistan, seeking a first series win at home since beating South Africa in February 2021, entered the Test with three spinners in Noman Ali, Sajid Khan and Zahid Mahmood. Aamer Jamal is their only fast bowler.
England brought in leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed to supplement the spin attack alongside Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir.
Gus Atkinson returns after being rested for the second Test, with Stokes the other fast-bowling option.
Teams:
Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Agha, Aamer Jamal, Sajid Khan, Noman Ali, Zahid Mehmood
England: Ben Stokes (captain), Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Gus Atkinson, Rehan Ahmed, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir
Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZL) and Sharfuddoula Saikat (BAN)
TV umpire: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI)
Match referee: Richie Richardson (WIS)
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