Sajid shines with bat and ball as Pakistan take control

Pakistan's Sajid Khan celebrates after taking the wicket of England's Ben Duckett in Multan. (AP PHOTO)

Pakistan were lifted by Sajid Khan's continued brilliance with both bat and ball against a scratchy England on the third day of the second Test to leave them eyeing a long-awaited home Test win.

England, set a massive 297-run target for victory on a tricky pitch, wobbled to 2-36 at stumps as spin-heavy Pakistan exploited the recycled pitch and nullified the tourists' aggression.

Sajid dismissed first-innings century-maker Ben Duckett for a duck off his third ball. Left-arm spinner Noman Ali then had Zak Crawley stumped with a brilliant ball that stranded the right-hander out of his crease.

Ollie Pope was unbeaten on 21 and Joe Root not out on 12, but England move into the fourth day requiring 261 more.

“The conditions are in our favour,” Ali said. “The ball is turning and hopefully we will bowl them out tomorrow.”

Pakistan have not won any of their last 11 Tests at home since March 2021 and have lost their last four home Tests, including the first against England at the same venue last week.

England won by an innings and 47 runs, so Pakistan deployed an all-spin attack and dried out the same pitch.

Sajid dug in for 22 invaluable runs in the second innings and helped swell Pakistan's lead to 296 before the home team were bowled out for 221 late in the final session on Thursday.

Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir (4-66), effective against the left-handers, and Jack Leach (3-67) took the bulk of the wickets and Brydon Carse grabbed 2-29 with his reverse swing.

Pakistan were 231 runs ahead when Mohammad Rizwan (23) edged Carse into the slips in the final session. But Sajid showed plenty of grit and shared a 65-run ninth-wicket stand with Salman Ali Agha, who profited from dropped catches on 4 and 6, and scored 63 off 89 balls.

Carse was twice on the receiving end in the space of three balls when, first, Jamie Smith dropped a regulation catch of Agha, and then Joe Root, fielding close in the slips cordon with his helmet on, could not grasp an edge to his right.

“Realistically, it’s going to be a tough chase,” England batting coach Paul Collingwood said. “We can see (the pitch is) doing plenty for the spinners, there’s a lot of cracks. But we know this team is capable of (doing) some special things ... it will be one hell of a chase, something we will relish and try to go for.”

England had been batting at the start of the day, resuming on 6-239 before finishing their first innings on 291, trailing Pakistan by 75.

Bashir sliced through the Pakistan top order in the first session. Left-handers Saim Ayub and captain Shan Masood were caught close to the wicket and Abdullah Shafique feathered a catch down the leg-side to the off-spinner.

Kamran Ghulam (26), who made a dream debut hundred in the first innings after he replaced out-of-form Babar Azam at No.4, and Saud Shakeel (31) were prised out by leg before wicket decisions while attempting sweep shots against Leach.

Although England kept on coming hard at Pakistan's batters, Agha’s two let-offs besides Sajid's determined batting allowed Pakistan to set a challenging, and probably match-winning, target.

License this article

What is AAPNews?

For the first time, Australian Associated Press is delivering news straight to the consumer.

No ads. No spin. News straight-up.

Not only do you get to enjoy high-quality news delivered straight to your desktop or device, you do so in the knowledge you are supporting media diversity in Australia.

AAP Is Australia’s only independent newswire service, free from political and commercial influence, producing fact-based public interest journalism across a range of topics including politics, courts, sport, finance and entertainment.

What is AAPNews?
The Morning Wire

Wake up to AAPNews’ morning news bulletin delivered straight to your inbox or mobile device, bringing you up to speed with all that has happened overnight at home and abroad, as well as setting you up what the day has in store.

AAPNews Morning Wire
AAPNews Breaking News
Breaking News

Be the first to know when major breaking news happens.


Notifications will be sent to your device whenever a big story breaks, ensuring you are never in the dark when the talking points happen.

Focused Content

Enjoy the best of AAP’s specialised Topics in Focus. AAP has reporters dedicated to bringing you hard news and feature content across a range of specialised topics including Environment, Agriculture, Future Economies, Arts and Refugee Issues.

AAPNews Focussed Content
Subscription Plans

Choose the plan that best fits your needs. AAPNews offers two basic subscriptions, all billed monthly.

Once you sign up, you will have seven days to test out the service before being billed.

AAPNews Full Access Plan
Full Access
AU$10
  • Enjoy all that AAPNews has to offer
  • Access to breaking news notifications and bulletins
  • Includes access to all AAPNews’ specialised topics
Join Now
AAPNews Student Access Plan
Student Access
AU$5
  • Gain access via a verified student email account
  • Enjoy all the benefits of the ‘Full Access’ plan at a reduced rate
  • Subscription renews each month
Join Now
AAPNews Annual Access Plan
Annual Access
AU$99
  • All the benefits of the 'Full Access' subscription at a discounted rate
  • Subscription automatically renews after 12 months
Join Now

AAPNews also offers enterprise deals for businesses so you can provide an AAPNews account for your team, organisation or customers. Click here to contact AAP to sign-up your business today.

SEVEN DAYS FREE
Download the app
Download AAPNews on the App StoreDownload AAPNews on the Google Play Store