Welcome to the house of Saud. England crossed the threshold on Friday hoping to underline a slender advantage and they departed on the precipice of an emphatic defeat after the game was in almost every way transformed by Saud Shakeel. Where there was chaos he brought calm, when his team were struggling he brought success, and his spectacularly unspectacular century pushed England into a position they seem profoundly unsuited to escaping.
Shakeel’s 134, forged in large part across late-innings partnerships with England’s spin-bowling nemeses, Noman Ali and Sajid Khan, helped Pakistan to a first-innings total of 344 and a lead of 77. Left with nine overs to face at the end of the day, by stumps the tourists had stumbled to 24 for three, still 53 behind, with Noman and Sajid their undoing once again.
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