England face difficult night spell with bat after Pakistan declare first-innings lead
England had the better of the morning session as they turned Pakistan’s overnight 73 for three into 183 for seven, a deficit of 80.
The first pivotal moment of the second morning occurred when Jamie Smith dropped Saud Shakeel, when 26, off Shoaib Bashir. England’s young off-spinner was bowling his best, blessed with two left-handers at the crease, and the ball turning slowly but copiously. It was reminiscent of that video which Ben Stokes saw of Bashir pinning down Sir Alastair Cook.
It was a thickish outside edge by Shakeel, so ordinary wicketkeepers would have missed it, but we are talking Test level here. Smith’s expensive drop in this Test (Shakeel had sustained Pakistan with an unbeaten 72 by lunch), following his dropping of Salman Agha which was crucial in the second Test, can only add fuel to the debate: should Smith replace Ollie Pope at number three and hand over the gloves to Jordan Cox or even his Surrey colleague Ben Foakes?
Shakeel appears to be the best of Pakistan’s left-handers against spin. It is certainly not their captain Shan Masood. He fell into the same trap that England have set for him before: they offer him the leg side, into which to turn Bashir’s off spin, and he takes the bait, turning his bat to work leg side instead of playing straight.
Ollie Pope, whatever his deficiencies at number three, has been a superb second slip or gully for England’s spinners. He starts low, and stays low (which Smith did not do) and swallows the outside edges.
Gus Atkinson had a burst of four overs. Then came Stokes’s next trick and the second pivotal moment of the second morning: Rehan Ahmed, after one over the previous evening, from the pavilion end, fizzy by nature and skiddy in trajectory.
A loose spell would have let Pakistan approach parity on first innings. Instead, Rehan speedily rewarded the faith in him with a couple of wickets LBW, both trapped on the back leg. The beauty of his bowling – which now has plenty of over-spin – on this pitch is that few of his deliveries are destined to go over the stumps.
Mohammad Rizwan missed a sweep; so did Salman Agha. Salman was the more significant dismissal because, as Pakistan’s best right-hander against spin, he has been keeping England’s finger-spinners at bay.
Rehan’s third wicket came when Aamer Jamal chopped on a googly, when Pakistan’s deficit was still nearly a hundred, which is an enormous number on this result wicket.
Source: telegraph.co.uk
