Pakistani spinners trouble English batters in Karachi Test

Pakistan's Abrar Ahmed celebrates with his teammates after taking the wicket of England's Ollie Pope at National Stadium in Karachi.on December 18, 2022. (Photo courtesy: REUTERS)
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Updated 18 December 2022
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Pakistani spinners trouble English batters in Karachi Test

  • Abrar Ahmed, Nauman Ali take four wickets between themselves
  • England dismissed Pakistan for 304 on Day 1, Jack Leach grabbing 4/140

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani spinners Nauman Ali and Abrar Ahmed troubled English batters on Sunday, taking four wickets between themselves to put the visitors in trouble at the National Stadium of Karachi.

After winning the three-match Test series 2-0, England have locked horns with Pakistan for the third and final Test match of the series in Karachi.

The visitors dismissed Pakistan on Day 1 for 304 runs, with spinner Jack Leach grabbing 4/140 and debutant Rehan Ahmed finishing with 2/89.

For Pakistan, skipper Babar Azam top-scored with 78 before getting run-out while Agha Salman pitched i with an impressive 56 runs.

However, England found it difficult to negotiate a skilled Pakistani spin attack on a turning wicket. After striking and dismissing Zak Crawley in the very first over, Ahmed went on to pick one more wicket on Day 2, that of Ollie Pope, who scored 51 from 64 balls.

Ali, on the other hand, deal serious damage to England, taking two wickets from two balls. He trapped the dangerous Ben Duckett for 26 from 37 balls and on the very next ball, dismissed Joe Root on a golden duck.

Under pressure to avoid their first-ever 3-0 whitewash at home, Pakistan made four changes from the second-Test line-up while England made two, bringing in Ben Foakes and Ahmed.


Newcastle complete cruise into Champions League last 16

Updated 25 February 2026
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Newcastle complete cruise into Champions League last 16

  • The Magpies will make up a six-strong contingent of English sides in the last 16 alongside Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham

NEWCASTLE, United Kingdom: Newcastle United completed their stroll into the Champions League last 16 with a 3-2 win over Qarabag on Tuesday to progress 9-3 on aggregate over the Azeri champions.
The Magpies will make up a six-strong contingent of English sides in the last 16 alongside Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham.
A tie that involved an over 5,000-mile (8,000 kilometer) round trip for both sides was killed off inside 45 minutes last week as Newcastle led 5-0 at half-time on their way to a 6-1 rout.
That allowed Eddie Howe to heavily rotate his side, with four-goal hero from the first leg Anthony Gordon among those left on the bench.
Newcastle still made another fast start to add to their lead twice inside six minutes.
Sandro Tonali fired in the rebound after Dan Burn’s shot was saved before Joelinton stroked in Harvey Barnes’ cross.
Qarabag had taken the scalps of Benfica and Eintracht Frankfurt in the league phase to make the play-off round and at least salvaged some pride with two goals in the second half.
Camilo Duran outpaced Burn to pull a goal back before the Newcastle defender was penalized for handball inside the box.The Magpies will make up a six-strong contingent of English sides in the last 16 alongside Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham.
Aaron Ramsdale saved Marko Jankovic’s penalty but Elvin Jafarguliyev netted the rebound.
In between the visitors’ two goals, Sven Botman powered in a header from a corner.
That took the tally of goals conceded by Qarabag in the Champions League to 30 — a single season record in the competition.