Key events
46th over: Pakistan 144-4 (Saud 53, Rizwan 21) There’s no movement for Atkinson, and no prospect of reverse swing, so his biggest weapon is uneven bounce. I don’t think any deliveries have really kept low today; maybe that’s because the ball is a bit older.
A series of gunbarrel-straight deliveries are repelled by Rizwan and there’s one from the over. Atkinson’s figures today are 4-0-10-0. He’ll probably have one more.
45th over: Pakistan 142-4 (Saud 52, Rizwan 21) Saud sweeps Bashir firmly for four to bring up a terrific half-century from 92 balls. He was missed by Jamie Smith in the 20s but has otherwise played with an eyecatching assurance.
In an ideal world Ben Stokes would save Rehan Ahmed for the tail but he may need to gamble soon because Pakistan are cruising along. This pair have added 40 in the last eight overs with few alarms.
44th over: Pakistan 135-4 (Saud 46, Rizwan 20) Atkinson continues to target the stumps in the hope that one will shoot through. Rizwan gets a thick inside edge that bounces safely on the leg side, then pushes Atkinson down the ground for a couple. He’s playing superbly and is becoming a pain in England’s hindquarters.
“Any sign of Joe Root warming up?” asks Jeremy Boyce. Nope! “Given his rare failure with the bat yesterday I’m sure he’s itching to make up for the lapse. Actually, this seems to be the perfect occasion and pitch for some of Dermot Reeve’s dibbly-dobbly mash up.”
43rd over: Pakistan 133-4 (Saud 46, Rizwan 18) Leach is hooked after a single over at this end. Bashir returns and is swept deftly for three by Saud; it should have been two but there was an overthrow after a poor return from Rehan.
Three singles make it six from the over in total. Rizwan has put England under pressure and runs are starting to come more easily.
42nd over: Pakistan 127-4 (Saud 42, Rizwan 16) Rizwan continues his invaluable counter-attack by clipping Atkinson through midwicket for three. His busy positivity makes him a particularly dangerous player in low-scoring games.
“Can we bring in Foakes, bat Smith and drop Pope and Crawley,” says Alisdair Gould. “Foakes catches and offers variety of mind as a batsman. Smith is our current hero. Lance Pope and Crawley as the last act prior to the Ashes? The indulgence towards both must stop.”
In fairness, Crawley was England’s best player against the two best teams in the world. I can’t see him being dropped, especially as his game should be perfect for Australian conditions. Pope remains an interesting and slightly confusing case. Also, Lance Pope sounds like an erratic 6ft 8in left-arm quick from Tasmania.
The Rizwan effect. Pakistan scored 26 in 12.2 overs before he arrived; they’ve added 24 in 5.4 since then.
41st over: Pakistan 123-4 (Saud 41, Rizwan 13) Leach has changed ends to replace Bashir. He hasn’t looked particularly threatening so far, however, and is swept decisively for four by Saud; a reminder that he was missed on by 27 by Jamie Smith, a tough chance standing up.
40th over: Pakistan 117-4 (Saud 36, Rizwan 12) Gus Atkinson replaces Jack Leach, a logical move given how well these two batters play spin. When he offers a bit of width, Rizwan opens the face to glide the ball for four. Nicely done. He has changed the tempo of the innings already.
39th over: Pakistan 112-4 (Saud 35, Rizwan 8) Blimey. Out of nothing, after a series of exaggerated defensive strokes and leaves, Rizwan slog-sweeps Bashir for six. So much for it being a high-risk shot; he absolutely nailed that.
“What is unfolding in Pune ( my home for 7 years) is even more tantalising than this game,” writes Krishnamoorthy V. “New Zealand are to cricket what Roger Federer is to tennis and Armand Duplantis to pole vault. Loved by all, even opponents.”
It’s a long morning session, two and a half hours, the players are taking the first drinks break.
WICKET ELSEWHERE! India 103-7 (Ashwin LBW b Santner 4) Can’t spake.
38th over: Pakistan 105-4 (Saud 34, Rizwan 2) Stokes must be really tempted to give Atkinson a couple of overs before Rizwan settles. He’s much better against spin and had a torrid time against Brydon Carse in the first two Tests.
Against that, the ball is doing plenty, particularly for Bashir. He beats Saud with another lovely delivery that dips and grips. Meanwhile…
Watch: Bashir gets Shan with a beauty
37th over: Pakistan 102-4 (Saud 32, Rizwan 2) A reverse sweep from Saud is anticipated and then stopped by the diving Stokes, a terrific bit of fielding. One run can make the difference.
Saud gets it past Stokes later in the over to bring up Pakistan’s hundred. Rizwan plays a defensive stroke and then waves at the heavens, possibly because the drone camera was too close. He gets off the mark by sweeping Leach for two; England won’t mind him playing that shot.
“Dude,” says Ben Bernards, “can you stop trying to jinx us (NZ) and prompt an Indian revival!?”
I’m just here for the Freudian slips. Sounds like India have some awful shots today.
36th over: Pakistan 99-4 (Saud 32, Rizwan 0) The arrival of Mohammad Rizwan means a left/right-hand combination for Pakistan. You’d expect him to be a lot busier and try to put pressure back on England.
WICKET ELSEWHERE! India 95-6 (Sarfaraz c O’Rourke b Santner 11) The scene of all scenes in Pune: India are still 164 behind, on a Bunsen, knowing defeat means a first home series loss in 12 years.
WICKET! Pakistan 99-4 (Shan c Pope b Bashir 26)
Beautiful bowling from Shoaib Bashir! He’s got Shan Masood exactly the same way as he did in the second innings in Multan, turning one sharply to take the edge as Shan closed the face. Pope, very close at gully, took a really sharp catch. There may be doubts over Pope’s batting but by flip he is a brilliant close fielder.
35th over: Pakistan 99-3 (Shan 26, Saud 32) Leach has a couple of slightly better LBW shouts against Shakeel. Still not out though; it’s going to be very difficult for him to get LBWs from over the wicket with the ball turning so much.
“After the women became World T20 champions on Sunday, New Zealand continues to amaze, Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “Population 5 million. I still get misty eyed thinking about the incredible dignity and generosity of spirit they showed after the most heartbreaking of defeats to England at Lord’s in 2019.”
Kids, don’t take up sport. Take up baking or something. Die at 60 really fat and happy.
— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) July 15, 2019
34th over: Pakistan 99-3 (Shan 26, Saud 32) A low-risk single brings up an excellent fifty partnership comprised largely of low-risk singles. Five runs from Bashir’s over, three singles and a two. England need… something.
33rd over: Pakistan 94-3 (Shan 23, Saud 30) There’s an argument – there are quiet a few – that England cocked up real bad before lunch yesterday, and that if Pakistan bet sensibly, with a nice straight bat, they can eke out a decisive first-innings lead. Ach, who knows. The only certainty is that Pakistan are 173 runs behind.
Freudian slip of the day
Didn’t think there would be a poorer shit than Kohli’s today. Pant just played it, missing a swipe at a long hop and India are reeling. Three all rounders gives the batting great depth, but Kiwis right on top
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) October 25, 2024
32nd over: Pakistan 92-3 (Shan 22, Saud 29) Bashir makes it back-to-back maidens, and tjhough England haven’t taken a wicket they do at least have control of the scoreboard: in nine overs this morning there have been only 19 runs.
WICKET ELSEWHERE! India 83-5 (Pant b Phillips 18)
Look, we can’t ignore this. New Zealand could be heading for their first ever series victory in India, who are in all sorts on a pitch that is only going to get worse.
31st over: Pakistan 92-3 (Shan 22, Saud 29) Leach, back over the wicket, has a hopeful LBW appeal against Shan turned down by the umpire Sharfudduola. He was outside the line and there might have been an inside edge as well. That aside, it was plumb.
It’s also an important day for Sharfudduola, who made a couple of strange howlers in the final session yesterday. Both were corrected by DRS but it’ll surely be playing on his mind.
30th over: Pakistan 92-3 (Shan 21, Saud 30) Bashir beats Shan with a near perfect delivery that pitches on middle and growls past the edge. He’s been England’s main threat in the first 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, this is one of the reasons Gus Atkinson will be needed today.
29th over: Pakistan 90-3 (Shan 21, Saud 28) It didn’t take Leach long to move around the wicket to the left-handers, an angle that has brought him quite a lot of joy in this series. But Pakistan are playing him well this morning, dealing exclusively in defensive strokes and low-risk singles.
28th over: Pakistan 87-3 (Shan 20, Saud 27) Saud has been dropped by Smith off Bashir. That could be a big moment. It was a tough chance, a big deflection from a leading edge, and it hit Smith on the shinpad. Risk and reward department: Ben Foakes couldn’t have played that magnificent innings yesterday, but he would probably have taken that chance.
Thanks to Russ Whedon for sending the TMS overseas link. “This series has definitely exceeded expectations measured on the Bazball ‘entertainment first’ scale, hasn’t it?” says Russ.
It surely has. The evolution will be complete next winter when Stokes announces before the first Ashes Test that he couldn’t give a stuff about entertaininment or saving Test cricket, he just want to bring the urn home.
Chance for England 🏴
Shoaib Bashir finds the edge of Saud Shakeel’s bat but Jamie Smith can’t hold on ❌ pic.twitter.com/oJ9doU8XN2
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) October 25, 2024
27th over: Pakistan 82-3 (Shan 18, Saud 23) Erm, folks, something historic may be unfolding in Pune.
26th over: Pakistan 81-3 (Shan 18, Saud 22) Saud cuts Bashir very nicely for four. He’s a real threat to England today, an outstanding player of spin, and I half expected Gus Atkinson to start at Leach’s end because of that.
Shan looks less comfortable against Bashir and edges short of Stokes at slip. He pushed with hard hands and the ball still landed well short.
“While waiting for play to start I’ve been reading Walter Isaacson’s marvellous biography of Steve Jobs,” writes Kim Thonger. “Jobs had a habit of creating a reality distortion field around himself, in which he would bend truth just enough to win any argument. This strikes me as the same approach really good spin bowlers take. The batsman is never quite sure what’s real and what’s trickery. There is no mention yet of Jobs turning out for the Cupertino XI on Sundays, but maybe Walter is keeping it up his sleeve for the closing chapters.”
The old zootermeister, Shane Warne, was so good at that. There’s a brilliant passage in Kevin Pietersen’s book, On Cricket, about how Warne worked over both the batters and the umpires.
25th over: Pakistan 76-3 (Shan 18, Saud 17) The one advantage of batting second on a wearing pitch is that you can learn from the opposition’s first innings. England lost five wickets before they twigged that the sweep is a high-risk shot on such a slow, low pitch, and since then the batters on both sides have generally played with a straight bat.
Jack Leach’s first over is a quiet, exploratory affair; two singles from it.
24th over: Pakistan 74-3 (Shan 17, Saud 16) A lovely start from Bashir, whose first ball curves onto middle stump and straightens sharply. Shan does pretty well to drop a thick edge just short of Pope, who is very close and under the helmet at gully.
Shan gets another thick edge later in the over, this time all along the ground. He’s definitely a candidate for an edge playing against the spin.
The players are ready for action in Rawalpindi. In other news, Virat Kohli has just been bowled by a full toss and India are in a bit of bother against New Zealand in Pune. If New Zealand win the second Test they’ll become the first team to win a series in India since England 12 years ago.
Here, have you heard this? It might just be one of the greatest debut singles in the history of forever.
“As you ease yourself into the new day, an interesting innings by Western Australia has just unfolded in the Australian one-day competition,” says Phil Withall. “Somehow they managed to lose eight wickets for one run, being bowled out for just 53. Spectacular achievement I’m sure you’ll agree…”
Amazing! I completely missed that. It reminds me a little bit of that astonishing Surrey collapse against Lancashire in 1993, which in some ways was even worse because they were so close to victory.
Read Ali Martin on Adam Gilchr Jamie Smith
Over the course of his sparkling 89 he once again showed the class and composure that marks him out as a player of considerable promise. Victim to a couple of rash yahoos in the second Test, Smith was content to first take a look, soaking up 32 balls for nine runs and playing chiefly with a straight bat. Unlike a couple of colleagues higher up, the 24-year-old appeared to trust his defence.
Scorecard aficionados, this one’s for you
Read Simon Burnton’s report on day one
From the sport that once brought you leg theory, this was more like chaos theory. Before this week nobody knew what you would get if you spent the buildup to a game roasting the pitch in a makeshift fan oven. It turns out the answer is wickets, 13 of them falling on an opening day of drama and frequent befuddlement.
Preamble
This is the day, folks. By 1pm BST/5pm PKT we should have a strong idea who is going to win this intriguing series. For now it remains too close to call with any certainty. Pakistan will resume on 73 for 3, a deficit of 194 on a pitch that has had all the bounce and pace baked out of it.
The case for England is that they have runs on the board on a pitch that could go at any moment; the case for Pakistan is that, in England’s first innings, batting became less uncomfortable after around 35 overs as the ball started to age. Pakistan’s innings is 23 overs old, which means only one thing: Big First Hour coming up. Really big.
