RAWALPINDI: Spinners Sajid Khan and Noman Ali left England reeling at 24-3 after Saud Shakeel‘s fighting hundred put Pakistan in control of the series-deciding third Test in Rawalpindi on Friday.
England came in looking to erase a deficit of 77 but had no answers for the Pakistan spinners on a turning pitch.
Sajid dismissed Ben Duckett for 12 and Noman Ali removed Zak Crawley (two) and Ollie Pope (one) in the space of five runs.
When bad light ended the second day’s play with five overs remaining, Joe Root and Harry Brook were at the crease on five and three respectively.
England still need 53 runs to avoid an innings defeat with seven wickets in hand and three days left to play.
The series is tied at 1-1 after England won the first Test by an innings and 47 runs while Pakistan took the second by 152 runs, both in Multan.
On another day dominated by spin, Shakeel’s brilliant 134 was the highlight, pulling Pakistan within touching distance of a first home Test series win since they defeated South Africa in February 2021.
Shakeel anchored Pakistan’s innings, lifting them from a precarious 177-7 to 344 all out.
“We had an idea that this pitch will help spinners so with that in mind I prepared myself,” said Shakeel, admitting it was one of his best knocks.
The left-hander held Pakistan’s innings together with a gritty knock spread over 322 minutes and 223 balls, hitting just five boundaries.
“A hundred is a hundred and it’s the best feeling and now we are in the best stage of the match.”
But leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, who was the pick of the England bowlers, said his team had plenty of fight left.
“I think we are still quite positive with so much batting to come so we are still very positive in the changing room come tomorrow,” he said.
Ahmed took 4-66 while off-spinner Shoaib Bashir finished with 3-129.
– Defiant Shakeel –
The 29-year-old Shakeel defied England with an eighth wicket stand of 88 alongside Noman who made 45 before falling in the final over ahead of the tea break to spinner Bashir.
Shakeel added another 72 for the ninth wicket with Sajid who scored an unbeaten career-best 48.
Shakeel was finally caught off a miscued pull off pacer Gus Atkinson while Ahmed dismissed the last man Zahid Mahmood for nought.
The visitors looked to be in control when young spinner Ahmed bagged three quick wickets to leave Pakistan teetering at the end of the first session.
England were eyeing a lead after Ahmed’s burst left Pakistan on 187-7 at lunch but the Shakeel-Noman stand turned those expectations into frustration.
Shakeel batted with composure and reached his fourth Test hundred with a single off Rehan in a resistance-packed innings.
Noman — surviving a leg-before decision on review and a dropped catch off Root — assisted Shakeel admirably, hitting a six and two fours as the duo helped Pakistan add 80 in the second session.
Rehan sent Mohammad Rizwan (25), Salman Agha (one) and Aamer Jamal (14) back to the pavilion and threatened to derail Pakistan.
England’s frontline spinners Jack Leach and Bashir could not extract the same sharp turn from the pitch as rival Sajid Khan, who took 6-128 on Thursday.
Pakistan resumed the day at 73-3 in search of a sizeable lead to press for a series win.
But Shakeel was the only top=order batter able to build a meaningful innings after reaching double figures.
