Tea Pakistan 267 for 8 (Shakeel 107*, Noman 6*) are level with England 267 (Smith 89, Duckett 52, Sajid 6-128)
It spoke of Shakeel’s application that he has struck just four boundaries in his 191 balls so far. The last of those was a firm sweep in front of square which took him to 50 from 92 deliveries. And it was appropriate that he had the honour of taking Pakistan to 267, cancelling out England’s opening effort, with a comfortable single driven down the ground off the penultimate ball before the break.
Still 80 behind after lunch, Shakeel and the very capable Noman set about drawing level with England’s first innings. The latter was the main aggressor, clouting Rehan for six down the ground as the 20-year-old struggled to find the full length that had come so easily in an excellent eight-over spell before the first break.
Perhaps because there were two left-handers, Ben Stokes decided not to keep the legspinner on for the start of the session. When he did reintroduce Rehan, it was from the Media rather than the Pavilion End, where he had bowled all of his previous nine overs.
The skipper’s frustration was compounded when Joe Root, brought on to bowl the 78th over, got his first delivery to spit out of the rough and take the shoulder of Noman’s bat when the left-hander was on 35. Stokes, fielding close in at first slip, got fingertips on the ball diving to his left. Noman had earlier corrected an LBW dismissal when on 10, with DRS confirming an inside-edge. It was the third decision umpire Sharfuddoula had overturned in this innings.
The following over, Shakeel knocked another comfortable single into leg side to bring up his first hundred against England, and second at this venue. The celebrations from his batting partner and teammates in the home dressing room were far more animated than his, all too aware there was plenty of work to be done.
Having come to the crease at 46 for 3 on the evening of day one, Shakeel glued the innings together through half-century stands with Masood and Rizwan. The third in cahoots with Noman truly flipped the script on England, eventually broken in the final over before tea when Bashir managed to skid the second new ball into the pads of the No.9.
