England overcame significant setbacks to reach 96-1 in reply to Pakistan’s massive 556 on day two of the first Test in Multan.
Ben Duckett hurt his left thumb taking the catch that ended the Pakistan innings, meaning Ollie Pope opened the batting in his place.
Pope pulled his second ball to mid-wicket, where Aamer Jamal took a stunning one-handed catch.
To their credit, Zak Crawley and Joe Root were assured in defying the lively hosts. Crawley is on 64 and Root 32, England still 460 behind.
All this at the end of another sapping day in the heat, as England’s stint in the field stretched to six sessions and Salman Ali Agha became the third home batter to register a century.
Salman survived on 15 when Chris Woakes’ spectacular boundary catch was ruled not out. TV umpire Chris Gaffaney adjudged that Woakes had a foot grounded beyond the rope in his attempt to throw up the ball and catch it again.
That would have been 420-7, England once more showing character on the true pitch, at one stage taking four wickets for 76 runs despite Saud Shakeel making 82 and nightwatchman Naseem Shah 33.
But Salman took the game away from England, dishing out some punishment to the weary visiting bowlers.
England can at least take some heart from Ben Stokes bowling on the outfield during the tea break as part of the captain’s bid to recover from a hamstring injury in time for the second Test.
Key eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureAn important point from Mike Atherton on Sky. Pakistan were hammered by Bangladesh in
According to data analysts Cricviz, the Multan pitch was the second-flattest for day one of a Test anywhere in the world since they started collecting such info
With that context, England had to make their life easier in any way possible, and that includes having your fast-bowling guru o
Danni Wyatt and Nat Sciver-Brunt steered England to victory (AP)Sign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxin