Rawalpindi (Pakistan): England crumbled to 24-3 against Pakistan spinners after Saud Shakeel hit a century in the third and final Test on an engineered dry wicket Friday.
Left-handed Shakeel exhibited immense patience for well over five hours to make 134 off 223 balls and dug in well with tailenders to craft a meaningful 77-run first-innings lead as Pakistan got bowled out for 344 late on Day 2.
Spinners Sajid Khan and Noman Ali, who had earlier frustrated England with their useful contributions with the bat, trapped Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley leg before wicket respectively to expose England’s inability to bat on slow surfaces.
And, Ollie Pope’s under-par series concluded when he edged a catch of Ali’s left-arm spin to leave England still 53 runs behind at stumps.
“When you play on such wickets, you have to back yourself and bat with clarity,” Shakeel said. “Playing against spinners always gives me tension, but I avoided playing sweep shots and relied on keep rotating the strike with singles.”
Earlier, recalled leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed ended England’s long frustration with figures of 4-66 in his first international game since February. Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir took 3-129 while Gus Atkinson grabbed 2-22 on a dry wicket specifically made to counter England’s aggressive batting.
“We did try different things with him, but he stood to his method and he batted very well,” Ahmed said of Shakeel’s resolute century. “We’re still quite positive … there’s no sense of negativity or head down with anyone, everyone still knows he has a job to do.”
Ahmed claimed three of the four wickets to fall in the first session as Pakistan slipped to 177-7 — still behind by 90 runs — before Khan (48 batting) and Ali (45) thwarted England’s plans by raising half-century stands with Shakeel.
“They both (Ali and Khan) really batted well and because of them we are in such a position,” Shakeel said.
Shakeel kept on rotating the strike with his deft pushes for singles on both sides of the wicket as he completed his century off 181 balls in the second session with a single off Ahmed to mid-wicket.
His four boundaries, in his maiden Test hundred against England, all came when he completed his half-century before lunch.
Captain Ben Stokes’ ploy to open up the field in the second session backfired as Ali and Khan batted confidently against spinners and the pace of Gus Atkinson.
Ali, who successfully overturned an lbw decision against him on 10, fell at the stroke of tea when he was trapped lbw by Bashir with the second new ball.
But, Khan counterpunched England spinners for four sixes and two boundaries before Atkinson’s short pitch ploy finally worked when Shakeel spooned a catch to mid-wicket after tea.
Earlier, Ahmed ignited a mini-collapse when he ran through the middle-order off his tidy bowling in the opening session.
Ahmed had Mohammad Rizwan (25) and Salman Ali Agha (1) leg before wicket as the batters went for unsuccessful television referrals.
Aamer Jamal (14) then chopped Ahmed’s googly back onto his stumps as Stokes intelligently manoeuvred his three specialist spinners and claimed four wickets for 114 runs in an extended 2-1/2 hour first session because of Friday prayers.
“Before lunch, it was a great session for us,” Ahmed said. “But at the end of the day, they batted well, so hats off to them.”
Resuming on 73-3, captain Shan Masood and Shakeel defied spinners and stretched their stand to 53 runs. England had its moment to separate the left-handed pair but Smith couldn’t hold onto a sharp low edge of Shakeel when the batter was on 26 in Bashir’s third over of the day.
Masood was too defensive in his 26-run knock-off 70 balls before Pope held onto a sharp low catch in a close-in second slip as the Pakistan skipper lunged forward to Bashir’s sharp delivery and got a thick outside edge.
Shakeel completed his eighth Test half-century and sixth against England when he smashed a sweep to Bashir to mid-wicket boundary and took the game away from England by combining in two resolute partnerships with Ali and Khan.
Pakistan levelled the series 1-1 with a 152-run win in the second Test on a recycled wicket in Multan after England had recorded an innings and 47-run victory in the opening Test.
