RAWALPINDI (National Times) \u2014 Rampant England pushed its first test in Pakistan in 17 years to an exciting last-day finish after setting a brave target of 343 runs for the home team on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Pakistan ended the fourth day at 80-2, needing a further 263 runs in a maximum of 90 overs left in the first test of the three-match series.<\/p>\n
First innings centurion Imam-ul-Haq was not out on 43 off 60 balls while one of four Pakistan debutants, Saud Shakeel, was lucky to be there on 24 after Keaton Jennings couldn\u2019t hold on to a two-handed catch close to the wicket in the penultimate over of the day.<\/p>\n
Ben Stokes\u2019 plan to start with a barrage of short-pitched balls paid dividends for England in the final session after the tourists declared their second innings at 264-7 at tea for an overall lead of 342.<\/p>\n
Abdullah Shafique (6), one of the three Pakistan first innings century-makers, fell into England\u2019s trap and pulled to Ollie Robinson in the deep before Azhar Ali was struck on his right index finger in the same over and left the field in pain.<\/p>\n
Stokes, who shared the new ball with Robinson, got the faint inside edge of Babar Azam off another short pitch ball to reduce Pakistan to 25-2 before the two left-handers \u2014 Imam and Shakeel \u2014 batted confidently to produce a 55-run stand until Jennings\u2019 missed opportunity.<\/p>\n
In its first innings, Pakistan\u2019s lower order dug in to reduce England\u2019s lead before getting dismissed for 579.<\/p>\n
But England didn\u2019t sit back on a wicket still conducive to batting and pushed its bid for victory with yet another electrifying display with the bat from the top order in the second session.<\/p>\n
Joe Root smashed 73 and Harry Brook followed his belligerent century in the first innings with 87 off 65 balls before getting bowled by fast bowler Naseem Shah (2-66).<\/p>\n
England added a brisk 218 runs in the second session to finish the innings with a rapid run rate of 7.4 an over, which matched its first-innings aggression that saw the visitors rack up an electrifying total of 657.<\/p>\n
Despite losing first-innings century-makers Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope, England underlined its plan of setting up a target for Pakistan in reaching 46-2 in seven overs before lunch.<\/p>\n
Pakistan\u2019s inexperienced bowling resources were further reduced when debutant fast bowler Haris Rauf couldn\u2019t recover from his strained right quad and was unable to bowl in the second innings.<\/p>\n
Root survived a scare shortly after completing his half-century when Naseem couldn\u2019t hold on to a reverse sweep in the covers before legspinner Zahid Mahmood (2-84) dismissed him and then Stokes for a duck in a single over.<\/p>\n
Earlier, offspinner Will Jacks, who was given his test debut at the last minute after Ben Foakes had to sit out due to a viral infection, picked up 6-161 on a wicket doing the bowlers few favors before Pakistan was eventually bowled out.<\/p>\n
Pakistan\u2019s tailenders frustrated England for nearly 1.5 hours with Agha Salman scoring 53 off 67 balls after the home team resumed on 499-7.<\/p>\n
Salman shared a 57-run stand with Mahmood (17), who didn\u2019t play a false shot despite being surrounded by at least six England fielders close to the bat for much of his time at the crease.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RAWALPINDI (National Times) \u2014 Rampant England pushed its first test in Pakistan in 17 years to an exciting last-day finish after setting a brave target of 343 runs for the home team on Sunday. Pakistan ended the fourth day at 80-2, needing a further 263 runs in a maximum of 90 overs left in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n