Zeeshan Mumtaz
ISLAMABAD: Magical bowling by debutant Abrar Ahmed (7 for 114) and Zahid Menhood (3 for 63) compelled English batters to close their innings at 281 in 51.4 overs just before the tea break of the second Test match of the series at Multan Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Abrar Ahmed snared seven batters while Zahid claimed three wickets after conceding 114 and 63 runs respectively.
Abrar became the 22nd player in the world to have taken seven wickets in their debut.
England team’s captain Ben Stroke won the toss and decided to bat first at the slow pitch of Multan. Winners of the Pindi Test made only one change in the playing XIs Mark Wood got the place in the team and injured Liam had to take a rest while Green Shirts included three players in the playing XIs included Nawaz, Fahim Ashraf, and Abrar Ahmed replacing Azhar Ali, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah respectively.
England’s duo of opening batters Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley started the innings aggressively while Pakistan pacer Fahim Ashraf opened the bowling from Pakistan. Ben Duckett scored 63 runs while Pope made 60 runs. Mark Wood played sparking innings of 35 runs after wasting just 27 balls with the help of 8 fours.
Summarized Scorecard (Multan Test):
England won the toss and decided to bat first
England Batting (First Innings):
England were bowled out for 281. In their reply with the bat, Pakistan managed to score 107 for the loss of 2 wickets before the umpires stopped play due to bad light. Abdullah Shafique was dismissed after scoring just 14 runs, whereas Imam-ul-Haq was caught behind for a duck. Captain Babar Azam remains not out on 61, with Saud Shakeel tagging along with a promising 32.
England bowlers Anderson and Leach managed a wicket each.
Bowling of Abrar Ahmed:
Abrar Ahmed (7 for 114), Zahid Mehmood (3 for 63)
Pakistan (Playing XIs):
Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain & wicketkeeper), Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Nawaz, Abrar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Ali, Fahim Ashraf, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Zahid Mehmood
England (Playing XIs):
Ben Stokes (c), Joe Root, James Anderson, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood
