Pakistan spinner Sajid Khan claimed three wickets in just 10 deliveries. Centurion Ben Duckett left England reeling at 239-6 in the second Test in Multan on Wednesday. The second day of play belonged to the hosts, who took a lead of 127 runs after posting 366 in their first innings.
England had a solid start at 211-2 when Sajid struck in the final session. He dismissed Joe Root for 34, followed by Duckett for 114, and Harry Brook for nine. Sajid’s sharp spin caught Brook, the first Test triple-century maker, off guard, leading to a clean bowled dismissal. Root, who had scored 262 runs in the last match, was bowled off an inside edge while attempting a sweep.
At the other end, fellow spinner Noman Ali added to England’s troubles by taking out captain Ben Stokes for just one run. England quickly lost four wickets for only 14 runs, creating a tense atmosphere in the dressing room.
First-Innings
By the end of the day, Jamie Smith and Brydon Carse were at the crease, with scores of 12 and two, respectively. With the Multan pitch offering sharp spin, Pakistan aimed to capitalize on their first-innings lead for a series-levelling victory. England leads the three-match series 1-0 after winning the first Test by an innings and 47 runs.
A total of 11 wickets fell on Wednesday, with Sajid finishing with impressive figures of 4-86 and Noman contributing 2-75. Duckett played aggressively, scoring 16 boundaries in his innings and becoming the 15th player to reach 2,000 runs in just 28 Tests. He added 73 for the first wicket with Zak Crawley, who scored 27, followed by partnerships of 52 with Ollie Pope (29) and 86 with Root.
Read: Ben Duckett’s Half-Century Helps England Reach 88-1
Duckett’s Fourth Test Century
Duckett reached his fourth Test century off just 120 balls, having completed his half-century in only 47 deliveries. Despite England’s earlier dominance, the team struggled against Pakistan’s spin attack as the day progressed.
Pakistan initially struggled to dismiss England’s openers. Sajid bowled in the second over to seek an early wicket, but Crawley held out twice. At 49-0, Crawley survived a close run-out when Sajid hit the stumps while taking the ball, and Duckett sent him back.
Crawley overturned a leg-before decision against Sajid but fell shortly after, caught behind off Noman’s bowling as Pakistan successfully reviewed an earlier not-out call.
Earlier, Pakistan’s tailenders frustrated England by adding 107 runs after resuming their innings at 259-5. Jamal and Noman contributed 49 runs for the ninth wicket before Jamal was bowled by Brydon Carse, who ended with figures of 3-50. Spinner Jack Leach dismissed Noman, who scored 32, to finish with 4-114, sealing a dramatic day of cricket in Multan.
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