Pakistan v England Test Match Series

England Touring Squad
Stokes ©
Ahmed
Atkinson
Bashir
Brooks
Carse
J Cox
Crawley
Duckett
Hull
Leach
Pope
Potts
Root
Smith
Stone
Woakes

1st Test - Multan 7-11 Oct
2nd Test - Karachi 15-19 Oct
3rd Test - Rawalpindi 24-28 Oct

NB. There was talk of venue changes, I'm not clear if the above dates have been confirmed.

^^ As mentioned above the 2nd Test Match has now been moved to Multan.

Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the first test match as he has not recovered from his hamstring injury in time.

Pakistan v England 1st Test - Multan Day 1 Close
Toss - Pakistan elected to bat
Pakistan 328-4 (86 overs) Masoood 151 Shafique 102 Shakeel 35 no Babar 30 Atkinson 2-70

England XI
Crawley, Duckett, Pope ©, Root, Brook, Smith (wk), Woakes, Atkinson, Carse, Leach, Bashir

Pakistan XI
Ayub, Shafique, Masood ©, Babar, Shakeel, Rizwan (wk), Salman, Jamal, Afridi, Naseem. Abrar

On the surface it has the look of a poor day for England in the field, but they stuck tom their task well on the flattest of pitches. Leach & Woakes apart this was an inexperienced attack in alien conditions for most. A slow pace pitch with very few balls turning, marginal seam & swing, this was perfect for under-fire Pakistan captain Masood who led from the front with an attractive knock, he took on Bashir not allowing him to settle, Leach was the only bowler to offer control, although the whole unit improved as the day progressed. Masood scored a free[flowing 151, Shafique had to work much hard for his hundred.
The 2nd new ball brought the wicket of the out of form Babar who remains a class act who will bounce back at some point, a vital wicket going into tomorrow.

Boiling hot day, docile pitch and mature batting from Masood and Shafique made it tough for England but I think the bowlers and fielders plugged away gamely to be honest.

Pope and Crawley in particular threw themselves around in commited fashion to save runs in searing heat.

The score may not look great from an England point of view but I think they actually did alright. I'm proud of em after a real slog of a day.

(07-10-2024 05:34 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  Pakistan v England 1st Test - Multan Day 2 Close
Toss - Pakistan elected to bat
Pakistan 556 (149 overs) Masoood 151 Salman 104 no Shafique 102 Shakeel 82 Naseem 33 Afridi 26 Babar 30 Leach 3-160 Carse 2-74 Atkinson 2-90
England 96-1 (20 overs) Crawley 64 no Root 32 no
England trail by 460 runs