England on verge of completing series whitewash against Pakistan, set target of 167 runs in final Test
Dec 19, 2022
Karachi [Pakistan], December 19 : A fantastic five-wicket haul by 18-year-old spinner Rehan Ahmed on Test debut left England on verge of completing a series whitewash against Pakistan, with their scorecard reading 112/2 in their run-chase of 167 runs on day three of the third and final Test at Karachi on Monday.
At the end of the day's play, Ben Duckett (50*) and skipper Ben Stokes (10*) were unbeaten on the crease.
Pakistan started their day two on 21/0, with Abdullah Shafique (14*), Shan Masood (3*) at the crease.
Spinner Jack Leach struck, dismissing Shafique (26), Masood (24), Azhar Ali (0), to reduce Pakistan to 54/3.
Then skipper Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel helped Pakistan cross the 100-run and later 150-run mark.
Rehan ended their 110-run partnership, dismissing Azam who scored 54 off 104 balls. He also dismissed wicketkeeper-batter Mohammed Rizwan (7), Saud Shakeel (53) in quick succession, reducing Pakistan to 177/6.
Joe Root also stepped in, dismissing Faheem Ashraf for just one run.
Then Agha Salman and Nauman Ali put on a 30-run stand, which helped the hosts cross the 200-run mark. Pacer Mark Wood dismissed Nauman for 15 to end the partnership, Pakistan sunk to 208/8.
Mohammad Wasim and Agha were the last two men dismissed for 2 and 21 respectively. Pakistan was bundled out for 216 runs. With this, Pakistan gained a 166-run lead over England, who had scored 354 in their first innings to gain a 50-run first innings lead over Pakistan.
Rehan was the pick of the bowlers, taking 5/48. Leach also took three wickets, while Wood and Root took one wicket each.
Chasing 167, England got off to a fine start, with openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett stitching an 87-run stand and completing more than half of the chase together.
Spinner Abrar struck to dismiss Crawley for 41 off 41 balls.
Rehan was sent as a nightwatchman and he hit two boundaries. His eight-ball stint at the crease ended with him scoring 10 runs and Abrar picking his second wicket of the innings.
Following that, Duckett and captain Stokes helped England get through the remainder of the day without any damage.
Pakistan: 304 and 216 (Babar Azam 54, Saud Shakeel 53, Rehan Ahmed 5/48) vs England 354 and 112/2 (Ben Duckett 50*, Zak Crawley 41, Abrar Ahmed 2/43).
