Pakistan vs England: Ben Duckett injured however Zak Crawley hits unbeaten half-century as guests struggle again in first Check | Cricket Information

England proceed to battle exhausting within the first Check in opposition to Pakistan in Multan, however closed day two 460 runs behind their hosts at 96-1 of their first innings.

The vacationers’ process has been made all of the more durable by a thumb damage to opener Ben Duckett when taking the ultimate Pakistan wicket to fall.

There isn’t any official phrase by means of but on the extent of the injury and whether or not Duckett can nonetheless bat on this innings or the rest of the Check, although Sky Sports activities’ Nasser Hussain relayed on commentary “he is not going for a scan, so they must be positive about it.”

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Wednesday ninth October 5:50am

Pakistan racked up 556 of their first innings on this desperately flat Multan pitch, England’s bowlers toiling away admirably once more however with out a lot reward.

Brydon Carse (2-74) claimed his maiden Check wicket when eradicating cussed nightwatchman Naseem Shah (33) and whereas Mohammad Rizwan fell to Jack Leach (3-160) for a duck quickly after, Salman Agha (104no) strode out to the center and promptly struck a chic 108-ball century – the third for the innings.

England, disrupted by the damage to Duckett simply as they have been about to bat, then misplaced captain Ollie Pope – moved to the highest of the order – for a duck, out to a shocking diving catch by Aamer Jamal at midwicket.

However Zak Crawley (64no) and Joe Root (32no) gave a nod once more to the belting batting observe as they shared in an unbroken 92-run stand by means of to stumps to offer hope of a continued England fightback on day three.

Simply as on the opening day’s play, the guests grafted away with the ball, notably within the morning, solely to be annoyed by a 64-run partnership between Saud Shakeel (82) and Naseem.

Although the pair proved exhausting to dislodge, the scoring fee was at the least slowed considerably – solely 69 runs added within the opening session – and when Carse lastly struck on debut, adopted by Leach eradicating Rizwan, Pakistan have been wobbling considerably at 393-6.

Shakeel and Agha rebuilt after lunch, progressing the rating to 450 earlier than Shoaib Bashir (1-124) picked up the previous with a magnificence, edged to slide, and Carse claimed a second when pinning Jamal (7) in entrance – once more, two wickets falling within the area of three overs.

England would have been thrilled at dismissing Pakistan for something lower than 500 on such a flat deck however Agha countered beautifully, benefiting from an exhausted England assault that was noticeably fading because the innings prolonged.

Agha did survive one notable scare when on solely 15, lucky to see a Chris Woakes relayed catch to himself on the long-off boundary finally referred to as a six – a sensational effort from the veteran all-rounder sadly going unrewarded as his proper foot was solely simply nonetheless in touch with the bottom past the boundary rope.

There was additionally a twelfth unsuccessful evaluate out of 12 from Pope as skipper as he hopefully referred to as for DRS when Agha was on 67, just for Leach’s supply to be pitching exterior leg stump.

Agha would go on to notch a richly-deserved third Check ton, with Leach lastly seeing off Shaheen Afridi (26) two balls later to finish their important 85-run partnership for the ninth wicket.

Surprisingly, it did not immediate a declaration and England then spurned two golden alternatives to finish the innings sooner as Jamie Smith fluffed a simple stumping of Abrar Ahmed and Gus Atkinson dropped a sitter an over later earlier than Root lastly took his wicket – albeit at a price, with the damage to Duckett.

Such a ragged finish to the innings, and with the lack of Duckett leading to a rejigged batting lineup, there would have been big concern within the England ranks with the sudden dismissal of their skipper within the second over of their reply.

However Crawley and Root batted determinedly by means of to stumps with out additional loss, Crawley specifically wanting in high-quality contact as he cashed in with 11 boundaries in his unbeaten half-century.

What ought to England do if Duckett is injured?

Sky Sports activities’ Nasser Hussain:

“I wouldn’t open with Ben Stokes, personally, but he could do it [for rest of series], he’s technically as sound as anyone.

“In these situations, opening shouldn’t be like it’s in England the place it is extra of a specialist place. If it was England, I might most likely name up a specialist opener, whether or not that be Keaton Jennings, Alex Lees or Rory Burns.

“I don’t think they’ll do that. If anything they’ll do what they did tonight and move Pope up and Jordan Cox into the middle order, or Stokes when he’s fit.”

[On England’s hopes in this Test]: “Under the McCullum-Stokes era, England have conceded 500 twice and won both those games – against New Zealand at Trent Bridge and at Rawalpindi in 2022.

“That is one factor about England’s batting line-up, they rating their runs so rapidly, they’ll creep up on you.

“Zak Crawley’s break has probably done him good. He hits through the line so well, he can nail you. Your margin for error on line and length is miniscule.”

Watch day three of the primary Check between Pakistan and England in Multan, dwell on Sky Sports activities Cricket and Primary Occasion from 5.50am on Wednesday, forward of play ranging from 6am. Stream with NOW

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