England spinners Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed took advantage of a spin-friendly pitch to take Pakistan to 177 for six at tea in the third and final Test of the series here on Monday. Leach took six wickets in the space of six balls in the opening session of the day while young bowler Ahmed took three wickets in 17 balls in the second session to put Pakistan on the back foot. Pakistan’s team now has a lead of 127 runs with four wickets remaining. England had scored 354 runs in reply to Pakistan’s 304 runs in the first innings.
Ahmed took the wickets of half-centuries Babar Azam (54) and Saud Shakiq (53) during this period. He broke the 110-run partnership for the fourth wicket between the two by sending captain Babar to the pavilion. During this, Babar became the fourth Test batsman to complete 1000 runs in the year 2022. After completing his half-century, he was caught by Ollie Pope near mid-wicket in an aggressive shot off Ahmed’s ball. Ahmed is the youngest player for England to make his Test debut at the age of 18 years and 126 days.
He strengthened England’s grip on the match by dismissing Mohammad Rizwan (seven) and Shakeel in two consecutive overs after dismissing Babar. This was Shakeel’s fourth half-century in his Test series debut. Pakistan had earlier started the day on 21 runs without loss. Openers Shan Masood (24) and Abdullah Shafiq (26) put on a half-century partnership to end England’s 50-run first innings lead. Leach bowled Masood and gave England the first success.
Four balls later, he bowled Azhar Ali, playing his last Test, without opening the account. In the first ball of the next over, he trapped Shafiq lbw as Pakistan went from 53 for no loss to 54 for three. After the dismissal of former captain Azhar, England players shook hands with him while Pakistan players gave him a ‘guard of honour’ near the boundary line. Thirty-seven-year-old Azhar has played 97 Tests and announced his retirement before this match. After hitting three wickets, Babar and Shakeel fought the English spinners for two hours and 45 minutes but their partnership was broken before the tea break.
