MANCHESTER, UK: England were set a target of 383 to win the fourth Ashes Test at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Australia declared their second-innings on 186-6 after tea on the fourth day.
Steve Smith made 82 — his lowest score of a series where the world’s top-ranked Test batsman has now made 671 runs at an average of 134.2 with three hundreds, including 211 in the first innings of this match.
Jofra Archer led England’s attack with three wickets for 45 runs in 14 overs.
The most England have made in the fourth innings to win a Test is the 362-9, requiring 359, they posted in their series-levelling win in the third Test at Headingley a fortnight ago.
Victory in this match would see holders Australia retain the Ashes at 2-1 up with one to play in a five-Test series.
England set 383 to win fourth Ashes Test
England set 383 to win fourth Ashes Test
- The most England have made in the fourth innings to win a Test is the 362-9
Pakistan drop Babar and Ayub for ODI series against Bangladesh
- The 15-member squad has six uncapped players, including opening batter Sahibzada Farhan
- Abdul Samad, renowned for his aggressive batting in T20s, is one of the other uncapped players
ISLAMABAD: After a disappointing T20 World Cup, Pakistan have dropped seasoned batter Babar Azam and allrounder Saim Ayub for next week’s ODI series in Bangladesh.
The 15-member squad has six uncapped players, including opening batter Sahibzada Farhan, who topped the batting charts at the T20 World Cup with 383 runs. However, Farhan hasn’t played a 50-over game at domestic level since October 2024.
The selectors also dropped allrounders Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan, but surprisingly kept T20 captain Salman Ali Agha in the ODI squad after he scored only 60 runs at the T20 World Cup.
Abdul Samad, renowned for his aggressive batting in T20s, is one of the other uncapped players along with Shamyl Hussain, a 21-year-old opening batter, and Maaz Sadaqat. Ghazi Ghori is the backup wicketkeeper-batter as Pakistan recalled former ODI captain Mohammad Rizwan for the tour.
Mohammad Wasim and Haris Rauf are the two fast bowlers alongside Shaheen Shah Afridi, who will continue to lead the ODI team. Legspinner Abrar Ahmed will be frontline spinner with left-arm wristspinner Faisal Akram the other option.
The three-match series will be played from March 11-15 with Dhaka hosting all the games.
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Squad: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Hussain Talat, Maaz Sadaqat, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Ghazi Ghori, Saad Masood, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Shamyl Hussain.
