Ben Duckett gives England strong start in reply to Pakistan’s first-innings 366
At the tea interval the left-hander had reached 53 off 59 balls.
Ben Duckett reeled off a rapid half-century as England began their response to Pakistan’s first-innings score of 366 on day two of the second Test.
Jack Leach finished with four for 114 and Brydon Carse took three for 50 as the tourists ended a defiant Pakistan effort shortly after lunch in Multan.
It was hard to read just how good that total was given the unpredictable nature of a re-used pitch into its seventh day of service, but Duckett was in a hurry to make inroads as he led a reply of 88 for one.
At the tea interval the left-hander had reached 53 off 59 balls, leaning heavily on his arsenal of sweep shots to combat a home attack dominated by spin.
His opening partner Zak Crawley was the man to go, caught behind for 24 driving Noman Ali.
Resuming with the hosts 259 for five, England opened up with pace at both ends and struck inside three overs, Carse bounding in to take Mohammad Rizwan’s outside edge with one that angled in and then nipped away off the pitch.
Rizwan had somehow survived a torrid time on the first evening but his luck finally ran out on 41 as Jamie Smith swallowed the catch.
Carse’s accuracy saw him concede just 19 from his first 15 overs of the innings but he finally tired, with the last over of his spell leaking 16 on its own.
Matthew Potts swapped ends to replace his Durham colleague and brought an end to Salman Agha’s lively knock of 31, collecting a nick as he went once too often to the fine cut.
By now the score had ticked past 300 but England continued to make inroads, Sajid Khan lasting just nine balls before chipping Leach to Joe Root at short cover.
England were hoping to wrap things up before lunch but found themselves delayed by an awkward ninth-wicket stand of 49 between Aamer Jamal and Noman.
After a 40-minute break, Carse parted them with the very first ball of the afternoon session as he forced one through Jamal’s defences.
Carse turned catcher when Noman hoisted Leach to deep midwicket, leaving 17 overs for England to face.
Duckett dominated from the off, repeatedly dropping to one knee to sweep. He dragged the ball from outside off, on the stumps, hit it in front of square and behind and went over the top.
It was a masterclass in manipulating slow bowling and brought him nine boundaries. After 10 overs the score had raced to 69 without loss, but not without a couple of scares for Crawley.
He should have been run out for 20 when he was sent back by Duckett, but Sajid dislodged the bails with his hands before gathering the ball.
The right-hander overturned an lbw decision soon after, missing a reverse sweep, but had started to look unsteady by the time he flashed outside off and nicked Noman behind.
