Pak vs Eng: Tourists 8 down, languish at stumps on day 3

Pakistan are currently batting in their second innings of the first Test against England at Old Trafford.

The visitors carried a 107-run lead into the second innings but were dealt a blow very early on when 1st inning hero Shan Masood was out on a duck.

Abid Ali disappointed again, having negotiated his way past the new ball, he planted a catch into the hands of Chris Woakes.

At this point, the inning needed a captain's knock from the under-pressure Azhar Ali, who was joined by Babar Azam.

Azam, like the other 1st inning star Masood, failed on this occasion, edging one into the slip cordon and vanishing.

With the duo that had bailed out Pakistan in first go round gone, it was not upon the pair that had failed miserably earlier: captain Azhar and Asad Shafiq.

The skipper did not fail to disappoint for a second straight time as he was trapped lbw again, leaving Pakistan in a lurch as wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan walked in.

Shafiq and Rizwan looked comfortable but a needles call saw the former fall to a run out, while the latter was out lbw, and so was Shadab Khan as Pakistan languished at 122-7.

Another wicket fell and at stumps Pakistan were 137-8 with a lead of 244 runs but with a feeling that they might have let this one slip their grip.

Earlier in the day, England, in response to Pakistan's 326, resumed their inning.

The home side were four down when play began with Ollie Pope and Jos Buttler at the crease.

Pope completed his decent looking 50 a few overs into the day's play as the English pair kept it quiet and safe in early exchanges of the day.

At the drinks break after an hour of play, the hosts had not lost any more wickets and were 111-4.

The fifth wicket finally came after the break when Naseem Shah surprised Pope (62) with extra bounce and had him caught in gully. 

Rain was not expected but it did happen and interrupted play, just as it had on the opening day of the Test. Fortunately, the interruption was a brief one.

It was all Yasir Shah after the break. The leggie dismissed Buttler, Chris Woakes and Dom Bess, whereas Shadab Khan picked up Jofra Archer's wicket to leave England nine down.

Shadab trapped James Anderson lbw to skittle England at 2019. It was a balanced bowling performance, with all five Pakistani bowlers picking wickets but Yasir being the most successful of all. He got four. 

Shadab's deuce means the leg-spin duo took six wickets between themselves and justified the management's selection.

More to follow

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