RAWALPINDI (AP) – Recalled leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed took three wickets on an engineered dry wicket and led England’s strong comeback in the third and final test against Pakistan yesterday.
Saud Shakeel was holding one end up on a variable bouncy wicket and was unbeaten on 72 off 132 balls as Pakistan struggled to 180-7 at lunch on an eventful first session of Day 2.
England still leads by 80 after it got bowled out for 267, thanks largely to a gritty knock of 89 by wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith after off-spinner Sajid Khan had claimed a six-wicket haul.
The 22-yard strip has taken centre-stage for the series decider after ground staff used industrial-sized fans and outdoor heaters to dry out the wicket and counter the aggressive batting of England. And the spinners have continued to dictate as 17 wickets have fallen in four sessions.
Pakistan exhausted its remaining two television referrals when Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha went for unsuccessful lbw reviews against Ahmed, who was playing his first international since February.
Aamer Jamal then chopped Ahmed’s googly back onto his stumps as England captain Ben Stokes intelligently manoeuvred his three specialist spinners and claimed four wickets for 114 runs in an extended two-and-a-half hour first session because of Friday prayers.
Resuming on 73-3, captain Shan Masood and Shakeel defied spinners and stretched their stand to 53 runs on a wicket which saw 13 wickets fall on the first day. England had its moment to separate the left-handed pair but Smith couldn’t hold onto a sharp low edge of Shakeel when the batter was on 26 in Shoaib Bashir’s third over of the day.
Masood was too defensive in his 26-run knock off 70 balls before Ollie Pope held onto a sharp low catch in a close-in second slip as Pakistan skipper lunged forward to Bashir’s sharp delivery and got a thick outside edge.
Shakeel completed his eighth test half century and sixth against England when he smashed a sweep to Bashir to mid-wicket boundary before Ahmed’s three quick wickets put England back in control before lunch.
Pakistan leveled the series 1-1 with a resounding 152-run win in the second test on a recycled wicket in Multan after England had recorded a memorable innings and 47-run victory in the first test.
