Key events
96th over: Pakistan 349-4 (Saud 47, Naseem 7) Naseem is fine to continue and, when Atkinson pitches one up, he slices a big drive over the solitary slip for a single. It bounced well in front of the fly slip. Naseem has seven from 40 balls, and the 40 are probably worth more than the seven.
95.2 overs: Pakistan 348-4 (Saud 47, Naseem 6) Atkinson has moved second slip to fly slip for Naseem, who ducks into a bouncer and is clonked on the back of the helmet. He looks fine but that will mean a break in play and a concussion test.
95th over: Pakistan 348-4 (Saud 47, Naseem 6) Shoaib Bashir replaces Chris Woakes, who bowled a forensic spell of 6-2-9-1 last night and this morning. England’s arms go up when Saud bottom-edges a sweep onto the pad and away for a single.
Naseem steals a leg bye on the off side. Still just the one boundary this morning, and that was a thick edge from Naseem Shah. There have been 20 runs in 11 overs and, crucially, no wickets.
94th over: Pakistan 346-4 (Saud 46, Naseem 6) It might be time to try the extra pace of Brydon Carse against Naseem. For now it’s Atkinson to continue, with two slips and a leg slip waiting for Godot an edge.
Naseem is beaten by consecutive deliveries, the second a full-length beauty. Atkinson’s impressive poker face is being put to the test; Naseem has been beaten at least seven times this morning. But he has done a terrific job for his team by hanging around.
93rd over: Pakistan 346-4 (Saud 46, Naseem 6) Saud Shakeel fiddles Woakes, bowling round the wicket now, along the ground and through the cordon for a couple. This is his 13th Test and he has an average of 59. That includes a poor series in Australia a year ago, which is to say record in Asia is spectacular: 1078 runs at 77. And not all those pitches were as flat as this one.
Woakes, who continues to bowl expertly with the second new ball, almost gets him with a well-directed bouncer that beats the attempted hook.
92nd over: Pakistan 344-4 (Saud 44, Naseem 6) Naseem softens his hands just enough to ensure an edge off Atkinson falls short of second slip. Atkinson tries a bouncer, the first of the day, but it’s too high and called wide.
England’s frustration grows when Naseem gets a thick edge between slip and gully for four. There’s an appeal for caught behind off the last ball of the over but no review. I think his bat brushed his boot; it certainly didn’t touch the little red thing.
91st over: Pakistan 339-4 (Saud 44, Naseem 2) Pakistan have started slowly, Naseem (2 from 21 balls) in particular. But, as Phil said in the previous over, that makes sense in the circumstances. Every dot ball puts metres in the legs of England’s seamers, who probably needed to bathe in WD40 this morning.
Naseem’s batting stats are quite interesting. No, really. In his short Test career he has a strike rate of 28 runs per 100 balls, yet 75 per cent of his runs have come in boundaries, including 23 per cent in sixes. That means a whole lot of dot balls.
90th over: Pakistan 337-4 (Saud 43, Naseem 1) Atkinson has a strangled LBW shout against Saud after nipping one back from round the wicket. Nicely bowled but too high.
“We’ve just had a magnificently intense storm here in ‘sunny’ Queensland,” says Phil Withall. “The positive of this is that I no longer have to cut the grass, I believe the aquatic lawnmower is yet to be invented. The negative is that I am now free to focus on the cricket. Pakistan have no need to hurry, which will make England’s opening hour so much more trying. One can but hope…”
Big next 10 minutes! I still think Pakistan will get a minimum of 500; Saud is largely in control and there’s plenty of batting to come. England could easily go past that; so much will depend on how they fare against the pace of Shaheen Shah Afridi and especially Naseem Shah. All results are on the table, just the way we like it.
89th over: Pakistan 334-4 (Saud 40, Naseem 1) While Atkinson went round the wicket to the left-hand Saud, Woakes is bowling over the wicket with two slips and two men on the drive – one at short extra, one at short mid-off.
When he takes a single off the first ball, the flirtation of the outside edge resumes. Naseem is beaten by a jaffa and nods respectfully down the pitch. Woakes has bowled really well with the second new ball: 4-2-5-1 are his figures.
88th over: Pakistan 333-4 (Saud 39, Naseem 1) Saud Shakeel times excellent cover drives off each of Gus Atkinson’s first two deliveries. The first is excellently stopped by Zak Crawley; the second beats him and goes for three. A couple of singles complete a low-key over.
“Rob,” says Neil Waterfield. “For the first time, I am one of those annoying people on the OBO asking for an overseas link to TMS. From Multan but not the stadium (which is an entirely different story!).”
Oh, bleary eyed text commentary not good enough for you people any more? (Here you go.)
87th over: Pakistan 328-4 (Saud 35, Naseem 0) The nightwatchman Naseem is beaten twice in Woakes’ first over, the second by a beauty. “Wasted on a tailender,” says Rameez Raja on commentary.
A maiden to start. England will want rid of Naseem as soon as possible so that the seamers are fresh when they bowl at Mohammad Rizwan. He’s such a perky strokeplayer, definitely not the kind you want to come up against when you can barely feel your legs.
Chris Woakes will open the bowling to Naseem Shah, with three slips and a gully in place. Big first 10 minutes coming up.
Before we start, a very happy birthday to the youngest Invincible.
Simon Burnton
A couple of snippets from Multan
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It’s noticeably cooler today than it has been previously, and there’s some cloud cover that was much thicker an hour ago but hasn’t quite burned off yet. I’m sure it’ll still be roasting hot in a couple of hours, but probably less so than yesterday and every little helps.
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Jimmy Anderson is here!
At the Women’s T20 World Cup, the magnificent Nat Sciver-Brunt made light of an awkward runchase against South Africa to give England their second win in as many games.
The sight of one of the backroom staff doing the post-play interview usually means a very bad day at the office. Yesterday was more nuanced, and the spin bowling coach Jeetan Patel was full of praise for England during a most enjoyable interview.
Andy Bull on a day of hard yakka for England’s seam attack
These days England have a couple of electric fast bowlers of their own. The trouble is that one of them, Mark Wood, is just beginning a recovery from injury, and the other, Jofra Archer, is just finishing it. They have a wicked spinner too, but Adil Rashid, is so over Test cricket that while England were labouring away in Multan, he was (no joke) taking part in an Instagram livestream to promote the firm doing his hair replacement therapy. They had one of those ingenious seamers, too, but Jimmy Anderson was finishing playing in a golf pro-am before flying over to do some coaching because he has been railroaded into retirement.
Read Simon Burnton’s day one report
Shan Masood’s position as captain and in the team has become the subject of debate in recent months, and it had been more than four years and 26 innings since he last scored a Test ton, in which time his average was a miserable 20.69. But it swiftly transpired there were no demons in this pitch, and none in his head either.
Preamble
Hello you. Now, we know a Test series is up and running when one immortal, hackneyed phrase is used for the first time: ‘big first hour’. That’s what awaits Pakistan and England in Multan, with both having the chance to take control of the first Test. Pakistan will be eyeing 600+; England would be very happy to keep them to 450 on a pitch which is likely to secrete runs for the first three days of the match.
Pakistan will resume on 328 for four, with Saud Shakeel on 35 and the nightwatchman Naseem Shah yet to score. The smart money is still on Pakistan going huge, but the first hour could change that.
The second new ball is five overs old, so this is England’s chance, although their seamers are likely to be pretty sore after a six and a half hours of toil yesterday. Then again, that’s a good incentive to take early wickets and ensure they don’t face another day in the dirt.
