RAWALPINDI: England raced to 46-2 at lunch on the fourth day of the first Test against Pakistan on Sunday as spinner Will Jacks took six wickets on his debut to help the tourists take the lead.
Jacks helped England bowl out Pakistan for 579 runs at 161-6 and gave his team a 78-run lead in the first innings.
Zac Crowley and Joe Root were at the crease with 24 and four runs respectively at the break, taking the lead to 124 for eight.
The tourists, playing their first Test series in Pakistan for 17 years, have five more sessions to draw a result in the three-match series.
Opener Ben Duckett – one of four century-makers in England’s 657-run first innings – was caught at slip for a golden duck off fast bowler Naseem Shah’s second ball.
Fellow centurion Ollie Pope hit two fours before fast bowler Muhammad Ali was caught by Naseem, scoring 15 runs.
Earlier, debutant Jacks picked up all three wickets after falling as Pakistan resumed on 499-7 – but not before the hosts’ tail-enders got free on a badly flat pitch at the Rawalpindi Stadium. Did you score?
Agha Salman (53) and Zahid Mehmood (17) frustrated England during a tight stand of 57 for the eighth wicket in 50 minutes.
Earlier, on day three, Pakistan won after England’s first innings total of 657 with centuries from captain Babar Azam (136) and openers Imamul Haq (121) and Abdullah Shafiq (114).
But England took three wickets in the first session, none in the second and three more to put themselves in a better position.
The final session of the week was home to skipper Azam, who hit 19 fours and a six for his maiden Test century against England.
He hit a boundary off cover off opposing captain Ben Stokes to reach his eighth career Test century, which came off 126 balls and was laced with 13 fours.
Centuries by Shafiq and Haq mean that for the first time in 146 years of Test cricket, openers from both teams have reached three figures in the first innings.
His opening stand of 225 – a Pakistan record against England – also marked the first time in Test history that two 200-plus opening partnerships had been put together, after Zac Crowley and Ben Duckett’s 233-run partnership. went
England are on their first Test tour of Pakistan in 17 years, having been away in the interim due to security concerns.
