Pakistan vs England, 2nd Test Day 2: Ruthless England march on

One feels with an advantage of 281 at the end of the second day at Multan in the second Test of the series, England have much firmer grip of the game than Pakistan. The home side are largely to be blamed for finding themselves, so far behind in this game and criticism of Babar Azam’s lame and indecisiveness leadership is justified.

 

Match Summary

Pakistan vs England, 2nd Test, England tour of Pakistan

Pakistan 202/10 (62.5 ov)

England 281/10 (51.4 ov) & *202/5 (49 ov)

Day Break : Day 2 England lead by 281 runs

SCORECARD  

The morning session of the second day clearly belonged to England, who bowled out Pakistan for 202, to gain 79-run lead that has put them in complete control of the game. Babar Azam (75) and Saud Shakeel (63) had added 35 to the overnight score at the home side quite comfortable at 142-2. The captain’s exit, bowled by Ollie Robinson triggered a collapse, largely courtesy of a number of soft dismissals. In no time they were 169-8 and their insurance policy of having all-rounders in the middle order, stood for nothing. Be Stokes, once again seen at his tactical best, claimed an extra half an hour to claim the last Pakistan wicket.

Mohammad Nawaz and Agha Salman, in particular succumbed to the pressure created by Ben Stokes which at one stage squeezed the run rate to pedestrian pace with only 17 runs in thirteen overs. Having witnessed a flurry of wickets, left-handed Faheem Ashraf had yet to score himself. He went on to add some useful runs – 23 off 40 balls - with some sensible batting, which was clearly missing before him. Pakistan middle order collapse is a serious worry for it to occur so frequently in home conditions. England by picking last eight wickets for just 60 runs have created great opportunity to grind the opposition for which they were extremely thankful to Jack Leach (4-98), a superb effort in the context of the surface and the match situation. As the only front-line spinner, the orthodox slow left-armer shouldered the responsibility well and reached a personal landmark of 100 wickets in 31^st Test.

Compared to the tone they have set in the present series, England were both cautious and measured in the second innings and would close at 89-3 at tea, leading by 168 runs. Ben Duckett, with his second fifty of the match, has been the best from the top order and fairly busy with his nudges, pushes and not to mention both versions of sweep, square on either side of the wicket. The ‘mystery’ spinner Abrar Ahmed, expected to run through once again in the match, has not let himself down by any means. After running out Zak Crawley with a smart under-arm throw from mid-on, he also claimed the prize wicket of Joe Root, who has a great record in sub-continent and figures of 2-28 thus far. It was a stunning catch at short-leg by Abdullah Shafique that brought joy to the Pakistan camp and disappointment for

There was a big question mark over Babar setting defensive field, so early in the second innings, perhaps anticipating more aggression from England. Once that was not forthcoming, he ought to have been bit more pro-active, which he certainly was not. His tactics has allowed the game to drift further away from his side, with no threat to the batting side with his field-placing and rotation of bowlers, not to forget he is leading an attack featuring three front-line spinners.

In the post-tea session, England upped the tempo with Duckett now having joined by Harry Brook, who after a tentative start did show signs of opening up. With 79 off 98 balls to his name, Duckett got out to a rare long-hop, which made Abrar, only the second Pakistan bowler to claim ten wickets in a match, on his Test debut. Brook showing better judgement against Abrar and going after him on few occasions, was quick to his fifty off 73 balls, further enhancing his side’s progress. He would finish the day with unbeaten 73 and is in no mood to let off the pressure on the opposition. We have already seen fall of 25 wickets on the first two days and it is hard to see the contest going into the fifth day.

England in strong position at stumps on day two ??#PAKvENG | #WTC23 | https://t.co/OroPZVteRn pic.twitter.com/pIjSRv967R

— ICC (@ICC) December 10, 2022

Match Stats

England Fall of wickets 1st Innings: 1-38 (Zak Crawley - 8.5 ov), 2-117 (Ben Duckett - 18.6 ov), 3-145 (Joe Root - 24.1 ov), 4-164 (Ollie Pope - 28.4 ov), 5-167 (Harry Brook - 30.5 ov), 6-228 (Ben Stokes - 42.3 ov), 7-231 (Will Jacks - 44.5 ov), 8-245 (Ollie Robinson - 47.3 ov), 9-245 (Jack Leach - 47.4 ov), 10-281 (James Anderson - 51.4 ov)

Pakistan Fall of wickets 1st Innings: 1-5 (Imam ul Haq - 2.2 ov), 2-51 (Abdullah Shafique - 13.3 ov), 3-142 (Babar Azam - 34.2 ov), 4-158 (Saud Shakeel - 45.5 ov), 5-165 (Mohammad Rizwan - 49.5 ov), 6-169 (Mohammad Nawaz - 51.6 ov), 7-169 (Agha Salman - 52.1 ov), 8-169 (Mohammad Ali-II - 52.5 ov), 9-179 (Zahid Mahmood - 56.1 ov), 10-202 (Faheem Ashraf - 62.5 ov)

England Fall of wickets 2nd Innings: 1-11 (Zak Crawley - 3.5 ov), 2-25 (Will Jacks - 6.6 ov), 3-79 (Joe Root - 20.2 ov), 4-147 (Ben Duckett - 35.2 ov), 5-155 (Ollie Pope - 37.5 ov)

Playing XIs

Pakistan: Imam ul Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (C), Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Agha Salman, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Zahid Mahmood, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Ali-II

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (WK), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (C), Will Jacks, Ollie Robinson, Jack Leach, Mark Wood, James Anderson

 

Match Details:

Date: Friday, December 9, 2022 05:00

Venue: Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan

Toss: England won the toss & elected to bat