Pakistan v England: Tourists left cursing themselves after Carse chances spilled
Sweat glistened and gleamed on the big man’s forehead as he charged in hard in the heat of the day.
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Hide AdAs tea approached on day three in Multan, and as Pakistan’s lead crept over 200 with five second innings wickets still left, Carse steadied himself and puffed out his cheeks.
“Come on, Carsey.” came a cry from somewhere as the strapping fast bowler charged in again.
His next ball to Salman Ali Agha, the No 7, was outside the off stump and drew a faint edge.
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Hide AdJamie Smith, the England wicketkeeper, cannot have had an easier opportunity at any level of the game, the ball flying straight to him between knee and ankle height.
Inexplicably, though, it spilled out of his gloves and on to the ground, the whole thing so inexplicable, in fact, that there did not seem to be any reaction from Smith, as if he was trying to convey through his body language that there was “nothing to see here”.
Unfortunately, there was no hiding place for him - just as there was none for Joe Root two balls later when Salman edged to his right at first slip, a tougher chance standing closer than usual to negate the low bounce, but one that also should have been taken.
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Hide AdOnly time will tell how important those misses will be, but given that Salman - who was on 4 and 6 at the time - went on to the highest score of 63, and that England were left to equal their third-highest successful chase on foreign soil (297) on a pitch affording appreciable spin, one suspected they might be very important.
At least Root, who ended the day on 12, with Ollie Pope on 21 as England reached 35-2 at the close, was in a position to directly influence what happened next, after Ben Duckett had been caught top-edging a sweep and Zak Crawley stumped when drawn out of his ground.
Whereas a chase of around 225 might have felt just about manageable, one close to 300 was a mighty tall order.
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Hide AdIf anyone could do it, of course, it was the Bazball set, not usually lacking in fight or self-confidence – “let’s run towards the danger”, as they say behind the scenes.
Those two dropped chances were tough on Carse, the find of the series from England’s perspective.
The 29-year-old took two wickets in each innings on debut last week and, as part of an all-Durham pace attack this time, has impressed again.
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Hide AdHe was at least rewarded with the wicket of Mohammad Rizwan for the third time in the series, Root this time holding on to a hard-handed jab, and Carse it was who eventually got rid of Salman, miscuing a pull to Ben Stokes.
The captain bowled just five overs while the other member of the Durham pace bowling trio, Matthew Potts, only two balls more, Potts sending back Sajid Khan, whose ninth-wicket stand of 65 with Salman felt crucial in the context of the match.
Otherwise, it was the spinners who did the damage for England, as was always likely to be so, with Shoaib Bashir taking four wickets and Jack Leach three.
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Hide AdNeither ever seem much better than workmanlike, however, with the English schedule and system not conducive to producing world-class spin.
Bashir is still young and, perhaps, a little nervous, as emphasised at times by his efforts in the field.
Contrast his pulling out of a catch late in the day - or at least not going hell for leather for it - with Duckett’s acrobatic boundary leap that saved a certain six; the two examples were chalk and cheese.
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Hide AdEngland had started the day on 239-6, with Smith and Carse the men in occupation and the first innings deficit at 127.
Carse holed out to long-on and Potts was nutmegged, both men falling to Khan, who - after Smith had picked out long-off - finished things off when Bashir swept to short mid-wicket to end a 10th-wicket stand of 29 with his Somerset team-mate Leach, who made 25.
Thus England were bowled out for 291 to trail by 75, indebted, primarily, to Duckett, who scored 114 of them.
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Hide AdKhan’s 7-111 were the fourth-best figures for Pakistan against England – a list headed by Abdul Qadir’s 9-56 at Lahore in 1987 when, as wonderfully as the maestro bowled on that occasion, the ball had seemingly only to strike the batsman’s pad anywhere within a five-mile radius of the stumps to draw a raised finger from the rank home officials.
Mike Gatting, the England captain, was famously ‘sawn off’ by a leg-break that struck him outside the line of his off stump as he attempted to sweep, the series incredibly trying for both Gatting and his team.
Almost 40 years on, this tour has taken an unexpectedly trying twist for England in the last day-and-a-half, one which should really ensure that the sides head to Rawalpindi next week with the series level.
Now wouldn’t that be exciting.
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