Agencies
Jamie Smith’s fabulous 89 and a trio of late wickets gave England the upper hand on a breathless first day of the third and deciding Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi.
Smith dragged England to 267 all out, then the Pakistan top order stumbled to 73-3 to put the tourists in a favourable position to claim a second successive series win in this country.
On a pitch Pakistan had dried with giant fans and patio heaters, the hosts’ plan was being vindicated thanks in part to some careless England batting after the visitors won a crucial toss.
Only Ben Duckett, with 52, was blameless for his dismissal as England slumped from 56-0 to 118-6 before Smith’s impressive rescue act.
The wicketkeeper added 105 with Gus Atkinson, who made 39, with Smith accelerating on passing 50.
He crashed six sixes and was too cavalier in looking for a seventh to be out in the over before tea.
England were dismissed early into the evening, off-spinner Sajid Khan claiming 6-128 to go with his nine wickets in Pakistan’s win in the second Test.
Pakistan employed spin exclusively across the 68.2 overs, the longest first innings in Test history without any seam bowling.
The England total felt no more than par before Shoaib Bashir, Jack Leach and Atkinson claimed a wicket apiece to leave Pakistan 194 adrift.
It is hard to remember a series when conditions have created so much intrigue. First Pakistan employed a recycled pitch to level the series in Multan, now they have used unorthodox methods to hasten the deterioration of the surface in Rawalpindi.
It was a triumph for England to halt a run of seven toss losses, but this was never going to be a repeat of the astonishing 506-4 they plundered on the opening day on the same ground two years ago.
Both sides expected spin to dominate and each picked three frontline slow bowlers – this was the first time since 1964 England batted first in a Test and were faced with two spinners opening the bowling.
ScorescColor:> England 267 (Smith 89, Duckett 52; Sajid 6-128) vs Pakistan 73-3 (Atkinson 1-2). Pakistan trail by 194 runs.
