Summary

  • Third Test, day one, Rawalpindi - England win toss & bat

  • Series level at 1-1

  • Pakistan close on 73-3, trailing by 194

  • Bashir, Leach and Atkinson strike in final session

  • England 267: Smith 89, Duckett 52; Sajid 6-128

Live Reporting

by Sam Drury & Matthew Henry

  1. How's stat?!

    Andy Zaltzman
    Statistician on Test Match Special

    There has been 80 consecutive overs between Sajid Khan and Noman Ali.

  2. Eng 120-6

    Gus Atkinson, back in the England XI after being rested for the second Test, is in at eight.

    He gets off the mark with a back-foot punch down the ground for one before Jamie Smith clips to leg to keep the strike.

    The tourists are in a real hole here. The pitch is doing plenty and will only get worse but England have to make sure they put enough runs on the board that it still matters that Pakistan have to bat last on it.

  3. Simon Mann
    BBC Test Match Special commentator on BBC Sounds

    Sajid Khan has got another one, England are subsiding rapidly. The carrot was dangled and he fell for it.

  4. Alex Hartley
    Former England bowler on BBC Test Match Special

    Was that the right shot to be taken? England lose their sixth wicket to the spinners.

    Now if you're Pakistan you're thinking about bowling England out here.

  5. wicket

    WICKET

    Stokes c Salman b Sajid 12 (Eng 118-6)

    Edged and gone!

    It's superb bowling again from Sajid Khan, tossing the ball up around off stump, inviting the drive and then getting the ball to turn away and take the edge.

    Ben Stokes fell right into the trap and was pushing at it so it's a sharp chance for Salman Ali Agha but he makes no mistake going to his left.

  6. Eng 118-5

    It's early in the session but it already looks like a change of approach from the England batters with both Jamie Smith and Ben Stokes looking to use their feet.

    After skipping down and padding up to a couple, though, Stokes stays put and nails a reverse sweep just in front of square for four.

  7. Eng 112-5

    Jamie Smith is also up and running after lunch as he uses his feet and eases the ball to long-off for a single to end the over.

    And what do you know? It's Noman Ali continuing from the other end.

  8. Simon Mann
    BBC Test Match Special commentator on BBC Sounds

    England are in danger of not making the most of winning the toss.

  9. Eng 111-5

    Smith 5, Stokes 7

    The ball slides off the outside half of Ben Stokes' bat but into the gap for a single, the first run of the session for England.

    Sajid Khan continues with the ball for Pakistan but you could probably have guessed that.

    I'll go out on a limb and say it'll be Noman Ali from the other end.

  10. There's no doubt that you can't keep your eyes off it, Taiyab.

    A fair contest between bat and ball is what is always talked about when it comes to a good Test pitch.

    Is that what we've got in Rawalpindi?

    Well, after the second hour of the morning session, it's up to England to turn it into a contest in the afternoon session and, as chance would have it, that's just about to start.

  11. Get Involved

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    Just as the ball seams all over the place with cloud cover in England I think it's refreshing for other countries to push pitches with 'home advantage'. As long as it isn't dangerous to the players. World class teams need to prevail in all conditions. I far prefer this type of contest than the 'road' of the first Test.

    Taiyab, Riyadh

  12. The sweep certainly hasn't looked like the best option on this pitch, David.

    That shot did for both Ollie Pope and Harry Brook, two of the five to go.

    But the other three weren't sweeping so just putting the broom away doesn't mean you're safe and secure as a batter on this surface.

  13. Get Involved

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    Isn't a definition of madness doing the same thing time and again and expecting a different result? Surely they won't continue with the sweep everything approach.

    David

  14. All, Matt? Sounds like a leisurely late start to me... The lunch break is working in your favour there, though. But still no guarantees.

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    Any chance of our innings lasting until we all start work at 9am?

    Matt

  16. How's stat?!

    Soham Sarkhel
    CricViz analyst

    Duckett's wicket delivery had an Expected Average of just one run. That delivery had a 27% chance of dismissing a batter - that makes it the fourth-best dismissal delivery in a Test in Pakistan.

    Compared to a delivery that landed in a similar spot a few overs ago, the wicket delivery kept around 30cm lower than expected.

  17. Ben DuckettGetty Images

    One man who can attest to things getting that much tougher and, certainly, the inconsistent bounce is Ben Duckett.

    The England opener made a scratchy start but played nicely once he got into his groove as he made another half-century.

    However, his innings came to an end when a Noman Ali turned back in to him and essentially rolled rather than bounced to hit him on the shin.

    In the first session of the Test.

    Plumb lbw, nothing Duckett could do.

  18. How's stat?!

    Soham Sarkhel
    CricViz analyst

    PitchViz rating so far (the higher the number, the harder it is to bat):

    • First 10 overs: 4.0
    • Overs 11-20: 7.0
    • Overs 21-30: 8.1

    In terms of bounce inconsistency (the higher the number, the more uneven the bounce):

    • First 10 overs: 1.5
    • Overs 11-20: 4.1
    • Overs 21-30: 7.4

  19. Fair point, Gus, but when a Test begins on a Thursday and a session in, people are wondering how they'll spend a cricket-free Saturday, you'd have to say the pitch has played some part.

    But, as ever - cliche incoming - you can't really judge a pitch until both teams have batted on it...

  20. Get Involved

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    It feels like when the pitch is turning we just condemn ourselves to getting bowled out cheaply as if it’s the pitch’s fault not ours. Test cricket is about outscoring the opposition not the pitch.

    Gus in Durham