England struck through debutant Brydon Carse and veteran Jack Leach as Pakistan moved to 397-6 on Day 2 of the first cricket Test here on Tuesday.
Carse (1-64) ended England’s frustration when he had Naseem Shah caught at leg slip for 33 after the nightwatchman had dug in for 1-1/2 hours on the second morning. Leach (2-79) then had Mohammad Rizwan caught at mid-off for a 12-ball duck at the stroke of the lunch interval.
Left-hander Saud Shakeel, who resumed on 35, moved to 67 at the break with Salman Ali Agha yet to get off the mark from the seven balls he faced before lunch. Despite taking only two wickets it was the best session for the tourists as Pakistan could score only 69 runs. It was in sharp contrast to Day 1 when skipper Shan Masood (151) and Abdullah Shafique (102) hit centuries and featured in a 253-run stand.
Resuming on 328-4, Naseem batted solidly to raise his best score in first-class cricket as England couldn’t get much assistance of a benign wicket with the second new ball.
The short-ball ploy also didn’t work for England fast bowlers Gus Atkinson (2-88) and Carse before Shakeel reached his half century with a swept boundary against off-spinner Shoaib Bashir (0-86). Naseem got a knock on the back of his helmet when he was struck hard by Atkinson’s short ball and also received brief treatment when Carse struck the batter’s right thumb off another short ball.
But Naseem opened up against both slow bowlers — Bashir and Leach — as he lofted the spinners for three straight sixes before Carse came around the wicket to have his first test wicket when Naseem was caught on the leg-side and England squeezed the runs late in the first session. AP SSC
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