Pakistan v England: Tourists left looking to Yorkshire pair to pull them out of hole
But it would be right up there if either or both of those Yorkshire players - the finest English batsmen of the modern era - could produce something special in Rawalpindi, their side in trouble, the series on the line, with Pakistan on top going into day three.
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Hide AdWhen bad light brought a slightly premature end to the second day’s action, the sun disappearing from the dusky scene, Root and Brook were new to the crease and England were 24-3 in their second innings, trailing by 53.
Ben Duckett - a man capable of clearing the 77-run first innings deficit in two shakes of a lamb’s tail - had managed just 12 when falling to his 15th ball, lbw to Sajid Khan, the off-spinner.
One feared the worst for Duckett as soon as SIS Saikat, the Bangladesh umpire, initially rejected the appeal, causing a disbelieving Sajid and Pakistan to review.
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Hide AdFor the fourth time in the match (the other three times after he had given the batsman out), Saikat’s blunder was confirmed by technology - three reds and Duckett was gone, along with the prospect of the damage he might have wreaked.
Ditto Zak Crawley in the next over when he opted to review another stone-dead lbw having been hit in front by Noman Ali, the left-arm spinner.
Unlike Saikat (appointed earlier this year to the elite umpires’ panel), Chris Gaffaney, the New Zealander, has got little, if anything, wrong in this match, his decision duly upheld.
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Hide AdWhen Noman struck again in his next over, holding back his pace to draw a forward push and outside edge from Ollie Pope, who was taken at slip, England were 20-3, grateful soon for the diminishing light that allowed Root and Brook to escape the scene.
On their broad shoulders, then, did England’s hopes rest at the end of another fascinating day in cricket’s most fascinating format, the sort of day that makes one wonder what type of prosaic palate could possibly be sated by the franchise cuisine.
It seems a long time ago now since Root and Brook’s record stand in Multan, where Brook made 317 and Root 262, both career-bests, since when each have come back down to earth - Root with scores of 34, 18 and 5; Brook with innings of 9, 16 and 5.
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Hide AdIt seems a long time ago, too, since England started day two of this third and final Test much better placed to clinch the decider. Pakistan were 73-3 in reply to England’s first innings 267, the tourists with their noses in front given that the hosts would have to bat last on a spinning pitch, a prospect that could now be offset by a manageable chase.
For that they had to thank, primarily, Saud Shakeel, who anchored their final response of 344 with an innings of 134, his fourth Test century on his 15th appearance.
The 29-year-old left-hander - who blazed like a comet across the Yorkshire cricketing skies in 2023 when he made three County Championship appearances for the club - was at his composed and compact best, not worried by an unremarkable strike-rate of 60 as he grafted for eight minutes over five hours.
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Hide AdHe had started the day with 16 in the bank - as had Shan Masood, the Yorkshire captain, who had raised his total by just 10 when he was brilliantly held close in by Pope off Shoaib Bashir, the off-spinner.
Shakeel might also have fallen having added 10 to his overnight score but Jamie Smith, the wicketkeeper, missed another key - if far from easy - opportunity when a thick outside edge off Bashir sailed past his gloves and struck his left pad. It would have done little for Smith’s confidence after both he and Root dropped key chances in the previous Test when Pakistan levelled.
Smith’s miss of Shakeel here cost 108 runs but added to that were the eighth and ninth-wicket partnerships in which Shakeel participated with Noman (88 in 151 balls) and Sajid (72 in 78 deliveries), which lifted Pakistan from 177-7, still 90 adrift.
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Hide AdThose were the two highest stands of the innings as Noman dug in to make 45 before Bashir pinned him on the back foot, Sajid contributing an attractive cameo from the No 10 position for an undefeated, run-a-ball 48 that contained four sixes (three off Bashir, one off Rehan Ahmed).
Few more expressive characters have graced Test cricket than Sajid - even Pakistan Test cricket - with his warrior-like image enhanced when he ramped a ball from Ahmed into his chin area, causing blood to drip from his beard and on to his shirt. Ouch.
Earlier, Ahmed had energised England with a three-wicket burst just before lunch, trapping a sweeping Mohammad Rizwan, beating the defence of Salman Ali Agha to win another lbw and then inducing Aamer Jamal to chop on a googly; he later returned to bowl Zahid Mahmood.
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Hide AdThe other wicket went to Gus Atkinson when Shakeel, apparently in two minds, lobbed the ball up to mid-wicket in a curious finish to a fine innings, one which helped to turn the Test match and the series Pakistan’s way and leave Root, Brook and England with much work to do.
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