3rd Test
Day-2 Morning Session Highlights:
Rehan Ahmed has put the Pakistan team on the back foot in the third test
At The Lunch of Day-2:
England scored 267 (1st Innings), whereas Pakistan scored 187/7 (1st Innings).
So, finally England lead by 80 runs.
England struck four times in the first session of Day 2 in Rawalpindi during the final Test, with Rehan Ahmed quickly picking up three wickets to leave Pakistan struggling at 187 for 7 by Lunch.
Saud Shakeel’s unbeaten half-century remains Pakistan’s only hope on a pitch now offering considerable turn.
In a longer session to accommodate Friday prayers, Bashir immediately put pressure on Shakeel and Shan Masood, finding the edge once without a carry and nearly creating a chance that Jamie Smith spilled off Shakeel.
With Jack Leach partnering effectively from the other end, the spinners maintained a tight line, limiting the scoring rate.
Masood eventually fell when an attempted leg-side shot resulted in an edge, comfortably taken by Ollie Pope at gully.
Mohammad Rizwan, initially quiet, responded with a slog-swept six off Leach followed by a boundary off Atkinson.
Together with Shakeel, they kept the scoreboard ticking with singles and doubles, and Shakeel reached his eighth Test fifty with a well-timed sweep for four.
Ben Stokes’s decision to introduce Rehan paid off immediately.
After a quiet first over, the leg spinner trapped Rizwan LBW, with Rizwan’s review unsuccessful.
Rehan then had the in-form Salman Ali Agha playing down the wrong line, pinning him in front as well.
The wickets stifled Pakistan’s scoring, with Shakeel forced into a defensive mode.
Rehan completed his trio of wickets by bowling Aamer Jamal with a sharp wrong-un just before Lunch, leaving Pakistan with only three wickets remaining and still trailing by 80 runs.
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