England have endured mixed fortunes on day one of the second Test match with Pakistan after continuing with their relentless attacking approach.
Earlier this week in Rawalpindi, England recorded one of their most famous ever wins, ending a record-breaking Test match by taking five wickets in the final session to snatch the win from potential defeat.
When Ben Stokes won the toss in Multan on Friday and opted to bat first, it came as little surprise when his team went on the offensive, yet it did not bring the same rewards from day one in the opening fixture.
England were bowled out for 281 in just 51.4 overs, a score which is below what will be deemed par on this pitch and having not batted long enough to benefit from any pitch variation.
A number of batsmen made notable contributions, Ben Duckett top-scoring with 63 from 49 deliveries and Ollie Pope making 60 from 61 balls at number three.
Stokes and Will Jacks made 30 and 31 respectively in the middle order, while a 27-ball 36 which featured eight fours was required from Mark Wood to add more respectability to his team's score.
WOW!!
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) December 9, 2022
Abrar Ahmed has SEVEN wickets! Could he get all 10 here? 🤯🤯#PAKvENG pic.twitter.com/Tbkkr2ORo2
The star of the show, however, was debutant Abrar Ahmed, who became the first spin bowler in 35 years to take five wickets on the opening morning of a Test match.
Remarkably, he took seven wickets in succession, putting him in contention for a 10-wicket haul at one stage and, with it, cricketing immortality.
However, teammate Zahid Mahmood took the final three wickets, leaving Abrar to be content with figures of 7-114 from his 22 overs.
England needed wickets before the close and they arrived as James Anderson and Jack Leach dismissed Imam-ul-Haq (0) and Abdullah Shafique (14) in the first 13.3 overs.
Nevertheless, Babar Azam (61*) and Saud Shakeel (36*) batted out the remainder of the day to take Pakistan to 107-2, trailing England by just 174 runs ahead of what could prove to be a pivotal day on Saturday.
Darren Plant
