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Sajid Khan Puts Pakistan on Top After Ben Duckett Scores a Century with Sweeps
Sajid Khan Puts Pakistan on Top After Ben Duckett Scores a Century with Sweeps
Sajid Khan takes seven as Pakistan take control after Ben Duckett's century.
Slowly but surely, Pakistan took control of the second Test in Multan with a sudden burst of determination that made all their earlier plans worthwhile. They turned the game around after another strong day of England's batting by taking a series of wickets, something they had struggled to do during their six consecutive Test losses.
By the end of the day, England were struggling at 239 for 6, still 127 runs behind despite their efforts to bowl Pakistan out for 366 just after lunch. This came despite a superb fourth Test century from Ben Duckett, which had once seemed effortlessly dominant.
After 12 overs, England were racing along at 73 without loss. By the middle of the 42nd over, they were still looking strong at 211 for 2, despite Sajid Khan bowling a beauty that got through Ollie Pope's defences, showing signs that the worn-out pitch was starting to come to life after seven days of play.
However, just 18 balls later, everything fell apart for England. They lost four wickets for just 14 runs, and Sajid Khan’s dismissal of Joe Root—currently at his career-best in the ICC rankings—was the turning point that reignited Pakistan's hopes. Root’s unfortunate sweep shot ricocheted off his bat and onto the stumps, getting him out for 34. This moment seemed like something straight out of Pakistan's dream scenario for this match.
They had runs on the board, seam bowling wasn’t needed, and the spinners were extracting turns with fielders crowding around the bat—everything was falling into place.
In the very next over, Sajid delivered another stunning ball, catching Duckett’s edge and giving Salman Agha an easy catch at slip. Before the over was done, Sajid also took out Harry Brook, who had just smashed Zahid Mahmood for two aggressive boundaries. Brook had no answer to a sharp off-break that crashed into his stumps.
As Zahid was taken out of the attack, Noman Ali, Pakistan's other finger-spinner, returned. His second ball found the inside edge of Ben Stokes’ bat, sending a simple catch to short leg, dismissing the England captain for just 1 run in his first competitive game since August.
Jamie Smith and Brydon Carse survived until the end of the day, but with the pitch getting harder to play on, England will need to reach parity soon, or the match could slip further out of their control.
It was a remarkable comeback to end a captivating day of Test cricket, but even by Pakistan's unpredictable standards, the way they turned things around was extraordinary. Up until everything suddenly fell into place, it seemed like their challenge was falling apart.
Their problems started before play even began, when Aamer Jamal, their only fast bowler, picked up a hip injury after scoring a determined 37 in the morning session. He managed just six expensive overs in three spells. Shan Masood also showed little confidence in Zahid Mahmood, his legspinner, leaving Duckett free to dominate Pakistan’s finger spinners with his wide range of sweep shots, pulling the fielders all over the leg side.
Duckett reached a brilliant century, fittingly with a sweep, off 120 balls—surprisingly the slowest of his four Test centuries so far. Along the way, he became the fastest player to reach 2,000 Test runs, needing just 2,293 balls. It’s a niche record, but it reflects how well he has embraced and exemplified England's "Baseball" approach since his recall during their tour of Pakistan in December 2022.
Despite Duckett’s aggressive innings, there were signs that a contest was brewing beneath the surface. Zak Crawley, who prefers faster bowlers, struggled against the spinners. He had two big escapes before eventually nicking off to a loose shot outside off for 27, which Noman Ali successfully reviewed.
Crawley could have been run out on 20 when he hesitated on a quick single, but Sajid Khan broke the stumps before the ball arrived. Five runs later, he seemed out after being hit on the pads while sweeping, but Duckett convinced him to review, and the ball was shown to be missing the stumps.
Duckett himself had a close call on 83 when Noman, now bowling around the wicket to limit his sweeping options, just missed his leg stump as Duckett tried a reverse sweep. He also took two hits to the visor as the ball spun and bounced out of the rough. Though Duckett was part of England’s late collapse, in hindsight, the real surprise was how effortless he made it look while things were still going well.
The chaos of the closing overs was all a far cry from the more leisurely pace of the morning, in which Pakistan had resumed on a promising 259 for 5, on a surface that - while offering some turn and reverse swing - still had more in common with the road that had dished up 1599 runs in last week's first Test.
In cooler, hazier conditions, the pitch seemed to have gained some extra pace for the morning's play, which Brydon Carse used to great effect. Mohammad Rizwan, who had added only four runs to his overnight score of 37, was undone by a ball that bounced higher than expected and angled into his bat, with Jamie Smith behind the stumps reacting brilliantly to catch the fast-moving ball.
Carse deserved the reward for his excellent bowling. His key wicket of Saud Shakeel on the first evening also came from extracting unexpected bounce from the pitch. Agha Salman briefly found momentum with four boundaries through a deep third, but Ben Stokes cleverly resisted the urge to cover the gap. Instead, he added a fielder at gully, increasing the risk of that shot. The move paid off when Matthew Potts got extra bounce, and Smith, for the third time in the innings, made a sharp catch look easy.
When Sajid Khan mistimed a drive straight to short cover, Pakistan seemed to be heading for another collapse at 309 for 8. However, a crucial 49-run stand between Aamer Jamal and Noman Ali helped push their total past 350. Although Jack Leach eventually wrapped up the innings with his fourth wicket, England were pleased with their effort. Still, with the toss favouring Pakistan, runs on the board were always going to be crucial in this match. Despite Duckett’s impressive response, England doesn’t have enough of them yet.
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