isaan.live — Shan Masood’s first hundred as Pakistan Test captain set the tone for a greatly improved display from the holds at the beginning of their collection with England.
Abdullah Shafique slipstreamed Masood to finish a run of bad form with his 5th Test century as England’s unskilled attack was made to labor on a day of heats and hard yakka in Multan.
Points could have been even worse for the exploring side, that were gazing down the barrel after Masood and Shafique put together a near-chanceless double-century stand to see Pakistan to 261 for 1 throughout the night session.
But after Gus Atkinson conjured a advancement and Jack Leach saw off Masood for a sparkling 151, the late wicket of Babar Azam meant England could assess their initiatives with some satisfaction.
There was no question about this being Pakistan’s day, however. Without a win in home Tests since 2021 and on a run of 5 successive beats – consisting of a 2-0 humbling versus Bangladesh – since Masood handled the captaincy late in 2015, they were buoyed by a mammoth top-order collaboration.
In placid problems, it quickly became clear that an England attack led by a 35-year-old Chris Woakes, and featuring the debutant Brydon Carse amongst 3 bowlers that had never ever played a video game in Pakistan before, was facing a high learning contour.