England battling in face of huge Pakistan total

First Test, Multan (day two of five)

Pakistan 556: Masood 151, Salman 104* Shafique 102; Leach 3-160

England 96-1: Crawley 64*, Root 32*

England are 460 runs behind

Scorecard

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 again 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.

Bar the immense challenge of batting under considerable scoreboard pressure at the end of the day, this was rinse and repeat for England, deja vu from their back-breaking slog on Monday.

How different might it have been had Woakes’ catch been allowed to stand? With Jack Leach the bowler, it was a hugely impressive effort for long-on fielder Woakes to back-peddle and attempt the sort of catch that has become common in white-ball cricket.

Knowing his momentum would carry him over the rope, Woakes relayed the ball to himself. Salman started to walk off before Gaffaney made the check.

No close-up of Woakes’ right foot was available, the grainy footage was inconclusive and the benefit of the doubt went to the batter. Woakes was visibly frustrated and Salman ground England further into the dirt.

A statistical quirk is on England’s side. The two previous times they have conceded more than 500 since Brendon McCullum became coach, they have won, including the first Test in this country two years ago.

In these conditions, against a stronger Pakistan side, it would be remarkable to keep that run alive.

The most frustrating aspect of Duckett’s injury was that England should not have still been fielding. So professional across their marathon stint in the field, the tourists became ragged at the end, with Jamie Smith missing a simple stumping and Gus Atkinson a similarly easy catch off number 11 Abrar Ahmed.

In the end, off-spinner Root served up one of his occasional bouncers, which Abrar steered to slip fielder Duckett, who was having treatment even before he reached the dressing room.

Stand-in captain Pope has had enough on his plate, then emerged to open for the first time in his first-class career. He made a sweet connection to a short ball from Naseem, only for Jamal to cling on in his right hand and be mobbed by his team-mates.

England could have folded. The pitch, so flat on day one, began to show signs of turn and low bounce on day two. Pakistan were energised, twice having strong leg before appeals against Root and another to Crawley.

The second-wicket pair showed mettle to survive, particularly in case of Crawley, in his first innings since July because of a broken finger. Root needs another 39 to overhaul Sir Alastair Cook’s as England’s all-time leading run-scorer.

Duckett was assessed and deemed unlikely to be available to bat on the second evening. England had no plans for a scan in the hope the injury settles overnight.

Pakistan laid the foundation for their imposing total by moving to 328-4 on the opening day. England were boosted on day two by the arrival of bowling consultant James Anderson and a second new-ball five overs old, but were blunted by Shakeel and Naseem.

They added 64 for the fifth wicket, Naseem bravely taking blows to the head and hands to make England use energy they would rather have expended on frontline batters. He eventually turned to leg slip to give Brydon Carse a maiden Test wicket.

England chipped away either side of lunch, despite the Woakes non-catch. Shakeel played beautifully, sweeping the spinners, until Shoaib Bashir turned a beautiful off-break to take the edge. Jamal was lbw to one Carse got to keep low.

Even at 464-8, England could have escaped with something manageable, yet the reprieved Salman combined with Shaheen Shah Afridi to push Pakistan beyond 500.

Left-hander Salman targeted England’s spinners, adding 85 for the ninth wicket with Shaheen, who supported with a valuable 26.

After Salman completed his third Test hundred Shaheen had a swipe to give Leach a third wicket, then came the Abrar shambles that had severe consequences.