Matthew Potts broke a stubborn Pakistan partnership just before tea on day one of the second Test, leaving the hosts 173 for three after two early wickets from Jack Leach.
The home side’s decision to recycle the same worn Multan pitch that hosted the series opener generated intrigue in the build-up and the sight of Leach’s left-arm spin dismissing Abdullah Shafique and Shan Masood inside the first 10 overs of the match rang alarm bells.
But despite the occasional glimpse of unreliable bounce, Saim Ayub (77) and debutant Kamran Ghulam (75 not out) put on 149 for the third wicket to wear down the tourists.
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Potts ended England’s long wait for another breakthrough in the penultimate over before the break, when Ayub pushed a catch straight to Ben Stokes at short mid-off.
After losing the toss England opened up with Durham seamers Potts and Brydon Carse, who shared five tidy overs with the new ball before giving way to the spinners.
One delivery from Potts kept low enough to leave the bowler grinning, while captain Stokes was overheard on the stump microphone saying, “it’s started already boys”.
Pakistan made it clear on the eve of the match they had ordered a turning track, loading their side with as many as seven slow bowlers, and the evidence was quick to appear.
Jack Leach struck twice early on for England (K.M. Chaudary/AP)
Leach beat the bat twice before striking with his ninth ball, snaking one past Shafique’s outside edge and knocking over off stump.
Home captain Masood was spared a golden duck when Leach went up for lbw but was soon gone for three, excellently caught low down by Zak Crawley after flicking around his front pad.
The chances of implosion spiked when Leach got one to spit off a good length at Ayub, who was lucky to see the ball spray wide of short leg, but gradually the threat cooled off. Ayub began rotating the strike and Ghulam settled any first day nerves by slamming Leach for six over long-on.
Stokes searched for another breakthrough by having Leach and Shoaib Bashir swap ends, as well as handing two overs to Joe Root, but they struggled to find the perfect length as the third-wicket pair stretched their stand to 60 by lunch.
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The status quo held in the first half of the afternoon, with Leach and Bashir bowling unchanged for an hour without creating another chance. Restraint was the watchword for the batters but when they did allow themselves to risk a slog sweep, each collected four.
Ayub reached 50 in 97 balls and Ghulam followed off 104 as England laboured. A change of pace asked different questions, Carse getting his first ball back to jag in sharply before Stokes entered the fray in the 49th over.
Twice in his first two overs he found Ghulam’s edge and twice it sailed through a vacant slip cordon for four.
It looked as though it would be a wicketless session for England but Potts earned him a much-needed success when Ayub pushed forward and chipped to the waiting Stokes.