Jack Leach took a pair of early wickets for England earlier than Pakistan rallied to 79 for 2 on the primary morning of the second Check in Multan.
The house aspect’s resolution to re-use the identical worn pitch that hosted the sequence opener generated intrigue within the build-up and Leach’s elimination of Abdullah Shafique and Shan Masood in his first three overs appeared to ring alarm bells.
However preliminary indicators of unpredictable bounce failed to show into something extra regarding as Saim Ayub (40 not out) and debutant Kamran Ghulam (29no) reached the lunch break comparatively securely.
After dropping the toss England opened up with Durham seamers Matthew Potts and Brydon Carse, who shared 5 tidy overs with the brand new ball earlier than giving method to the spinners.
One supply from Potts stored low sufficient to depart the bowler grinning, whereas Ben Stokes was overheard on the stump microphone saying, “it’s began already boys”.
Spinning Wicket
Pakistan made it clear on the eve of the match that they had ordered a turning monitor, loading their aspect with as many as seven sluggish bowlers, and the proof was fast to seem.
Leach beat the bat twice earlier than putting together with his ninth ball, snaking one previous Shafique’s exterior edge and knocking over off stump.
House captain Masood was spared a golden duck when Leach went up for lbw however was quickly gone for 3, excellently caught low down by Zak Crawley after flicking round his entrance pad.
The possibilities of implosion spiked when Leach obtained one to spit off a great size at Ayub, who was fortunate to see the ball spray extensive of brief leg, however step by step the menace cooled off.
Ayub started rotating the strike and Ghulam settled any first day nerves by slamming Leach for six over long-on.
Stokes searched for an additional breakthrough by having the spinners swap ends, in addition to handing two overs to Joe Root, however they struggled to seek out the right size because the Pakistan pair negotiated a stand of 60 earlier than the break.
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