After two sessions of toil on day one of the second Test in Multan, England doggedly stuck to their plan for Saim Ayub to eventually force him into a mistake one over before Tea.
After Jack Leach struck twice in the opening 10 overs of the match, the pitch - which is being reused from the first Test - proved just as dead as it was last week. Ayub and debutant Kamran Ghulam were both able to pass 50 and Pakistan reached 115-2 midway through the afternoon session. Faced with a stiff challenge, England employed several different strategies to try and force a wicket with little assistance from the surface.
Having relied on spin for most of the session, Ben Stokes, who is back in the side after recovering from a hamstring injury which kept him out of England's last four Tests, brought Brydon Carse on for a single over to mix up what the batters were faced with. There were signs of reverse swing in Carse's over, the final ball of it a hooping inswinger which neither Ayub or Jamie Smith could get to, the ball going down to the boundary for four.
After the pace was taken off again with Leach bowling the next over, Stokes brought himself on to take advantage of any movement. Matthew Potts came on at the end of the over from the other end, starting nine consecutive overs of seam before Tea.
Potts stuck to a full length to extract as much movement as possible, with Stokes pushing it wide outside off from the other end. Both batters were tempted into playing, several thick outside edges flying away through the cordon for four before a slip was brought in. After an edge from Ghulam didn't carry to Root at slip, the helmet was brought out and Root moved closer, standing in line with Smith at a slip angle.
Kamran Ghulam is looking solid with an impressive fifty 👏
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) October 15, 2024
Scorecard ➡️ https://t.co/XyEZMkePw0 pic.twitter.com/uHpbDECiby
Variety with the ball and in the field
Both Potts and Stokes mixed up their lengths, sending full straight balls down, throwing the ball full and out wide before sending down a bumper. To match the plan with the ball, Stokes also kept mixing up the field placements, bringing players closer in to the wicket and tinkering with their positions, moving himself to a short mid off position close into the wicket during Potts' overs.
Off the final ball of the penultimate over before Tea, England's relentless pressure finally paid off. Potts sent another ball sliding across Ayub, which he miscued straight into Stokes' hands low to his right at silly mid-off. The celebrations from the England players were more of relief that the plan had worked rather than jubilation at the breakthrough.
Ayub's 77 was his highest Test score and third time he's passed 50 in nine innings. Pakistan went into the Tea break at the end of the following over on 173-3.
