England cemented their dominance after an eight-wicket morning session with a relatively sedate passage of second-innings batting, for all that Abrar Ahmed's mystery kept Pakistan in the hunt for wickets with two more breakthroughs before tea, including the key scalp of Joe Root for 21.
MULTAN: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-Dec 10th, 2022) Pakistan out for 202 on the stroke of lunch, a lead of 79, England had extended their advantage to 168 by tea during the first inning of the second Test at Multan Stadium today.
Babar Azam (75) and Saud Shakeel (63) scored half-centuries for the home side.
Left-arm spinner Jack Leach was pick of the English bowlers claiming 4-98.
Ben Duckett followed up his first-innings 63 with his second half-century of the match.
Despite pressing along at a purposeful rate of 3.63 an over, faster than Pakistan's overall rate for the series, England's progress was still significantly more watchful than their first-day 281 had been, with the early run-out of Zak Crawley and another first-over wicket for Abrar persuading them to take a more old-school approach to their accumulation.
England cemented their dominance after an eight-wicket morning session with a relatively sedate passage of second-innings batting, for all that Abrar Ahmed's mystery kept Pakistan in the hunt for wickets with two more breakthroughs before tea, including the key scalp of Joe Root for 21.
That perhaps hadn't been England's initial plan, however, given Duckett's promise at the close of the first day that they "wouldn't be blocking" when they encountered Abrar second-time around. But the spinner's first act of the second innings came in the field, as he swooped brilliantly at mid-on and calmly under-armed into the non-striker's stumps as Crawley - perhaps frustrated by a packed off-side field that had restricted his favoured drive - took on a risky quick single and lost.
At 25 for 2, England were in slight danger of throwing away their morning dominance, but Root's arrival at No. 4 signalled a reversion to more traditional tactics in spinning conditions - watchful strike rotation and calm partnership building, as he and Duckett carried their third-wicket stand to 54 from 80 balls.
It took a stunning piece of reaction fielding at short leg from Abdullah Shafique to prise Root from the crease, as he tracked his positioning for a pre-meditated sweep, then grasped the chance straight off the face of the bat in his outstretched left hand, inches from the ground. But it would be the final breakthrough of the session, as Harry Brook bedded in to tea on 3.
At 169 for 8 and with lunch approaching, Stokes was in no mood to let up the pressure. Back came Wood for what could have been the final over of the session, and with his very first ball, Zahid Mahmood was smashed on the pad and sent on his way lbw for the third duck of the innings. Abrar then hung around with Faheem Ashraf for a last-wicket stand of 23, but Wood's return to the attack induced an airy flick to deep midwicket from Ashraf, to wrap up a session that might yet have set up England's series.
The, thus, maintained it's dominance in the second Test match at Multan.
Earlier, on Friday, Abrar Ahmed, a debutant from Pakistan, bowled well against England, taking seven wickets.
The 24-year-old, who goes by the nickname "Harry Potter" among his mates because of his glasses, worked his own brand of magic to finish with a score of 7-114.
