RAWALPINDI: Pakistan spinner Sajid Khan took six wickets as England were all out for 267 after electing to bat on the opening day of the series-deciding third Test in Rawalpindi on Thursday.
Sajid finished with 6-128 and Noman Ali grabbed 3-88 after a rearguard 89 by Jamie Smith enabled England to get past 250 after they stuttered to 110-5 at lunch.
Smith smashed six towering sixes and five boundaries in his 119-ball knock before he was caught off a miscued slog against spinner Zahid Mahmood in the last over before tea.
After tea, Sajid removed Rehan Ahmed for nine to complete his third five-wicket haul before also dismissing Jack Leach for 16.
England lost captain Ben Stokes in the third over after the break, caught Sajid for 12 but Smith, who reached his fifty off 94 balls, and Gus Atkinson (39) added 105 for the seventh wicket.
The morning session was dominated by Sajid and Noman Ali who bowled unchanged for 42 overs.
After England won the toss and batted, Pakistan gave the new ball to Sajid and Noman who benefited from the parched pitch offering spin and low bounce from the first ball.
Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett raced to 56 in a confident start but England lost Crawley (29), Ollie Pope (three) and Joe Root (five) in the space of just 24 runs.
Noman had Crawley caught off a miscued drive while Sajid removed Pope and Root leg before.
Duckett, who completed a half-century off 76 balls, was trapped leg before by Noman for 52 after hitting four boundaries and a six.
First Test triple centurion Harry Brook lasted for 14 deliveries before being bowled behind his legs by Sajid for five after he failed to connect on a sweep.
Both the teams included three spinners on a grassless pitch which the hosts dried with fans and heaters in the build-up.
Sajid and Noman shared all 20 wickets in Pakistan’s second Test win to level the series at 1-1 after England won the first by an innings, with both matches taking place in Multan.
Sajid takes six as England dismissed for 267 in third Test
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Sajid takes six as England dismissed for 267 in third Test
- Sajid Khan finishes with 6-128 as Noman Ali grabs 3-88 to skittle England on spin-friendly track
- Both teams have three spinners on grassless pitch which hosts dried with fans and heaters
Ashes batters run for cover on manic day one in Melbourne
- Twenty wickets fall on chaotic day one
- Tailender Neser top-scores for Australia with 35
MELBOURNE: Australia finished marginally on top at the end of a chaotic opening day of the fourth Ashes test after an extraordinary 20 wickets fell in front of a record crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.
Australia nightwatchman Scott Boland was four not out with Travis Head yet to score as the hosts went to stumps at four for no loss in their second innings, carrying a 46-run lead over England.
With England bowled out for 110 in reply to Australia’s first innings 152, it was the highest number of wickets in a single day at the MCG since a record 25 fell in the 1902 Ashes.
Josh Tongue took a career-best 5-45 to skittle Australia on the grassy pitch after England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to field in the traditional Boxing Day test.
But the tourists’ batters then suffered a more egregious collapse.
The batting carnage unfolded in front of a crowd of 94,199, eclipsing the stadium’s previous record of 93,013 for a day of cricket at the 2015 World Cup final.
England, who have already lost the series after three straight defeats, came into the match under a cloud following reports that some players had taken a “stag party” attitude to a trip to Noosa between the second and third tests.
But they would have been well pleased with their work in the field early on, rattling through Australia in 45.2 overs to bring tea early.
The alarm bells were soon ringing, however, as their top order collapsed before they were bowled out in 29.5 overs.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan labelled the pitch a “shocker” but Australia seamer Michael Neser, who led his team’s bowling with 4-45 and batting with 35, had no complaints.
“We know it can move real fast day one and two, and then once that wicket hardens up and dries out, it can be quite nice to bat on,” he told reporters.
Miserable series
Neser’s knock was 33 runs better than England opener Ben Duckett, who was caught for two with a loose drive at Mitchell Starc, continuing his miserable series.
New number three Jacob Bethell, the replacement for the dropped Ollie Pope, managed only one before Neser had him caught behind, while opener Zak Crawley edged Starc to Steve Smith in the slips to be out for five.
Root was then out for a 15-ball duck, his second of the series, nicking Neser behind.
Harry Brook and Stokes dug in for a 50-run partnership to trim the deficit to 86 runs but England were then blown out of the water by a triple-strike from Boland.
The pacer took 3-11 as he trapped Brook lbw for 41, bowled Jamie Smith through the gate for two and had all-rounder Will Jacks caught behind for five.
Stokes was unable to rescue England, falling for 16 with an edge off Neser to Smith at first slip.
Gus Atkinson and Tongue’s 10th-wicket stand of 19 runs appeared heroic after what had gone on before. But it was all over when Cameron Green bowled Atkinson for 28, just in time for England’s bowlers to get one wicketless over in before stumps.
Australia’s Jhye Richardson, named for his first test since the last home Ashes in 2021/22, was the only one of the hosts’ four pacers not cashing in.
Tongue bowled Smith through the gate for nine among his five wickets and has dismissed the master batter in every first-class match against him, including both times at Lord’s during the 2023 Ashes.
He also removed opener Jake Weatherald (10) and number three Marnus Labuschagne (six) as Australia lost their four top-order wickets for 51 runs.
“Bowling them out for 150-odd, I thought we did an amazing job as a bowling unit,” said Tongue.
“They’ve bowled well as well. It’s obviously a pitch that’s doing quite a bit.”
