Key events
Preamble
Good morning! It’s hot, it’s dry and it’s day three in Multan, where Pakistan piled up 556 to a largely empty stadium, England sweated, dropped a couple of catches, Chris Woakes’ big boot caught on the boundary rope and Ben Duckett dislocated his thumb.
Salman Agha’s hundred from No. 8 frustrated England, but not as much as Duckett’s dodgy digit, which left Ollie Pope to open with sub-optimal results. Crawley and Root though smoothed the troubled waters with an unbroken stand of 92 at a fair lick.
So now we get to see whether the pitch stays as flat and crushingly unfriendly for bowlers as it was for the first two days, or whether the cracks have yawned and stretched to add a little spice . Play starts at 6amBST, do keep us company.
