England begin battle to chase Pakistan 556 in Multan

England began to battle back against Pakistan as they began the chase of 556 in Multan.

The tourists managed to bowl Pakistan out later into day two of the first Test between the two sides, but not before Salman Ali Agha scored the third century of the host’s innings. Bowler Brydon Carse did pick up his maiden Test wicket however.

Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley opened the batting after Ben Duckett suffered a hand injury fielding earlier in the day but stand-in captain Pope was dismissed for a duck by a super Naseem Shah catch.

Crawley (64 not out) and Joe Root (32 not out) rallied, however, to lead the England fight back and leave the tourists on 96-1 at close.

England bowler Carse said: “The bowlers will be a bit fatigued but we’ve batted nicely today. We will rest up and come out tomorrow hoping to have a good batting day.

“It wasn’t probably the celebrations you’d expect after your first Test wicket, but the guys were knackered. It’s a relief and I am happy to have contributed with a couple of wickets today.”

England conceded 579 runs in their opening Test of their last tour to Pakistan in 2022, albeit they clocked 657 runs of their own first. They won that Test by 74 runs.

Day three of the first Test will see England hope to bat throughout.