By Mercy Kosgei
England lost openers Duckett and Crawley to end on 36-2 to Pakistan leaving them to level to series 1-1.
With over 250 runs to win, England really need Ollie Pope and Joe Root to steady things a little. Both had good starts but really need to bat well on a wicket.
On the other hand, Pakistan will rely on their spinners to help them level the series. Hitting the right lines and lengths is all they have to do.
Pakistan’s Sajid Khan broke England’s back with superb 4 as Ben Ducketts knock scores visitors to 239/6 on day 2. Sajid Khan stole the limelight with their exceptional performance on day 2 at Multan Cricket Stadium. Khan took 3 crucial wickets in the finals.
Shan Masood led Pakistan’s first inning total to 366 while Duckett and Root partnered to reach 211-2.
England’s left-hand opener Ben Duckett achieved a remarkable milestone during the Multan match. Duckett has been in top form not only scored a century but also became the fastest cricketer to reach 2,000 Test runs in terms of balls faced.
Duckett achieved the milestone in just 2,293 balls surpassing the previous record previously held by New Zealand’s Tim Southee who took 2,418 balls to achieve the same feat.
Scoring at nearly seven runs per over in the first ten overs, England started aggressively. Duckett performed really well with and partnered really well with Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope and Joe Root.
Although they bowled really well, with Ollie Pope (29) and Root (34), their contributions succumbed to Khan’s spin bowling.
Speaking to the press at the end of Day 2 game, Ben Duckett said,” Obviously I’m happy with how I played. It would be nice to be going back out there tomorrow, maybe a couple of wickets less but credit to them, I think they bowled so well throughout our whole innings. We’ll really stress that first hour tomorrow. It’s really important we look to score runs. On this pitch it’s not going to be a draw and we’re not going to play for a draw.”
