Pakistan’s openers got off to a quiet run between runs on Friday as they took the home team to 181 without a loss in reply to England’s mammoth 657 in the first Test at Rawalpindi. At the end of day two, Imam-ul-Haq (90) and Abdullah Shafique (89) were approaching the hundreds as umpires called stumps with 17 overs to go. The home team still needs 277 runs to avoid a follow-up. The pitch was again unresponsive to bowlers as England’s attack, managed by James Anderson, toiled in a similar fashion to the home side.
Shafique was lucky to be caught confidently on an appeal from Ollie Pope on a rising pitch. While umpire Joel Wilson gave a soft signal for it, television official Marais Erasmus ruled it out.
Haq, who scored a century in every innings on the same pitch in a Test against Australia in March, pushed spinner Jack Leach for two to complete 1,000 runs in his 17th Test.
Shafique, who also scored a hundred against Australia in the March test, crossed two boundaries to reach his fifth half-century in his eighth test, highlighting his rapid progress.
Haq followed suit soon after, taking a single from Joe Root for his fifth half century.
Earlier, resuming at 506-4, England added 151 runs in 125 minutes, with Harry Brook taking his overnight score from 101 to 153 – one of four centurions in the innings.
Skipper Ben Stokes (41), debutant Liam Livingstone (nine) and Brook were all sacked by pacer Naseem Shah, who finished 3-140.
Leg spinner Zahid Mahmood conceded 235 for his four wickets – the most by a bowler on a Test debut.
Earlier, Sri Lankan off-spinner Suraj Randiv conceded 222 against India in Colombo in 2010.
England’s total is the highest against Pakistan in all Tests, bettering their 589-9 in Manchester in 2016.
On Thursday, England became the first team to score 500 runs on the opening day of a Test match, bettering Australia’s 112-year-old record of 494-6 against South Africa in Sydney.
Zak Crawley (122), Ollie Pope (108) and Ben Duckett (107) were the other centurions in the innings.
The three-match Test series is England’s first in Pakistan for 17 years, having refused to tour in the interim due to security fears.
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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