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Ahmed spins England close to 3-0 sweep in Test against Pakistan

Leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed became the youngest bowler to take a five-wicket haul on Test debut as England are just 55 runs away from winning the three-match series 3-0 against Pakistan on their first Test tour in 17 years. Eighteen-year-old Ahmed took five for 48 in the second innings while veteran spinner Jack Leach took three wickets for 72 to bundle out Pakistan for 216 in the second innings on Sunday, the third day of the match. England got a target of 167 runs to win and the team scored 112 runs for two wickets at stumps.

Captain Ben Stokes (10) was present at the crease along with Ben Duckett (50) at stumps. Jack Crowley 41 while Rehan Ahmed was dismissed after scoring 10 runs. Abrar Ahmed got both the wickets. England won the first match of the series by 26 while the second match by 74 runs. Chasing the target, Crowley and Duckett put on a 69-ball 87-run partnership to put Pakistan bowlers under pressure. After bowling out Pakistan for 304 in their first innings, England took a 50-run lead by scoring 354 on the back of Harry Brook’s third consecutive century.

Coming close to a 0-3 defeat for the first time at home, Pakistan lost their last seven wickets for 52 runs. During this, Rehan Ahmed made the batsmen dance a lot with his googly and leg spin. Rehan Ahmed also took the wickets of half-centuries Babar Azam (54) and Saud Shakeel (53). 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 the ball of Rehan Ahmed. 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. After the break of this partnership, the team kept losing wickets at frequent intervals. 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.

Former captain Azhar was given a farewell by England players after his dismissal, 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 bowlers for two hours and 45 minutes but their partnership was broken before the tea break.

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