Pakistan v England: second men’s cricket Test, day three – live | Pakistan v England 2024

54th over: Pakistan 206-8 (Salman 56, Khan 14) Leach is taken for three runs as the pain continues for England.

53rd over: Pakistan 203-8 (Salman 55, Khan 12) 200 up for Pakistan as Bashir is milked for seven off the over. England, of course, will believe that they can chase whatever is set but the last half an hour has been a bruising one for them. Batting will get a little harder with each over they remain in the field.

52nd over: Pakistan 196-8 (Salman 55, Khan 8) The partnership stretches to 40 runs and the lead to 271. Gulp.

Fifty for Salman Agha! He dances down the track and lofts Leach back over his head for SIX! Crucial innings for his side, dropped twice early on and he’s making England pay.

Get on your dancing shoes, you sexy little swine consummate professional!

51st over: Pakistan 189-8 (Salman 49, Khan 7) Stokes sticks with Bashir. What an experience this is for the young spinner. Test match on the line, batters looking to smear him every ball, each run crucial. Absorbing stuff. Bashir does well, mixes up his pace, challenges the edge and concedes just four runs.

50th over: Pakistan 185-8 (Salman 46, Khan 6) Leach gets some big turn and bounce, oooh err. Pakistan’s many spinners licking their lips at the sight of that. Imagine Mick Jagger chowing down on a juicy peach. Or don’t. 260 runs suddenly looks a long way away…

49th over: Pakistan 181-8 (Salman 45, Khan 5) Bashir has a leg slip in place, almost acting as a fielder to stop the tickle off the legs. Sure enough he goes back a few paces and stops a certain four. Sigh of relief from England who have been under the cosh since they took that last wicket. Test match cricket at its finest. Three runs off the over.

48th over: Pakistan 178-8 (Salman 43, Khan 4) Leach once more and Salman Agha hits back for Pakistan! A slog sweep brings four over square… and again! Salman plunders 15 off the over which really hurts England. This partnership is suddenly 22 runs off 11 balls and Pakistan lead by 253. It was Salman that was dropped twice by the way, on 4 and 6 by Smith and Root. He’s now the man inflicting the damage on England, potentially taking the game out of their reach.

47th over: Pakistan 163-8 (Salman 29, Khan 3) All happening now in Multan, England looking to polish off Pakistan and the home side trying to eke as many runs as possible. “England really need to switch on here” says Nasser Hussain as Salman looks to open his shoulders. Thirty of forty runs here put the game well into Pakistan’s hands, at the minute the game is in the balance – Pakistan lead by 337.

WICKET! Noman Ali c Stokes b Shoaib Bashir 1 (Pakistan 156-8)

46th over: Pakistan 156-7 (Salman 25, Noman Ali 1) A loud groan from Stokes as four byes evade Jamie Smith behind the stumps and run away for four. It was a leg side spear from Stokes but every run is vital now.

45th over: Pakistan 150-7 (Salman 22, Noman Ali 0) The tunes are blaring out in Multan. You won’t wanna miss a thing.

WICKET! Aamer Jamal b Leach 1 (Pakistan 150-7)

44th over: Pakistan 147-6 (Salman 22, Jamal 0) Stokes keeps things tight, just a single off his latest.

“Loving this!” says Dan on email “But hardly able to keep a side eye on it thanks to you-know-what. Excuse for later on, after my company-administered flu jab, will be, “need to put my feet up for an hour, that needle’s sapped all my vim away…”

Isn’t that a Neil Young lyric, Dan?

43rd over: Pakistan 146-6 (Salman 21, Jamal 0) Aamer Jamal joins Salman in the middle. Door creaking open for England. They need four more wickets to finish Pakistan off. The lead is 222 runs. A knife’s edge you say?

WICKET! Saud Shakeel lbw b Leach 31 (Pakistan 145-6)

Phil Withnall is hooked up to the beautiful poison down in New Zealand”:

“Evening Jim, it’s late here in Queensland, I’ve been up since 4 this morning and will need to do so again tomorrow. I’m tired. However there are two hypnotically fascinating Test’s playing out and I feel obligated to cram in a few more overs before retiring. I apologise to anyone that has contact with me in the morning…”

Props to you and your eyebags, Phil.

42nd over: Pakistan 145-5 (Saud 31, Salman 21) Ben Stokes rubs the ball up and down Brydon Carse’s sweaty flanks to get the ball shined up. DH Lawrence esque scenes in Multan. Stokes played by Oliver Reed, obviously. Shot! Salman pulls a short ball away to the leg side boundary, more pain for England. Two more worked behind square, the ball will need to be polished up once more… Oh Brydon!

41st over: Pakistan 139-5 (Saud 31, Salman 15) Five runs off the first over back after the tea interval. Jack Leach is paddled and swept, flicked and fetched.

“An absolutely vital couple of hours in front of us” says Mike Atherton on the tv commentary, a man not known for his hyperbole. There’s a lot of things at stake in this final session.

England’s players will be taking some much needed fluid on board ahead of a huge final session on day three. Remember, Pakistan have lost their last six Test matches, after a trot like that you can almost forget how to get over the line. The home side are well on top but a flurry of wickets after tea and a target of less than 250 brings England right back into it. England’s run chase will then of course be box office viewing… either way.

Meanwhile, don’t worry, that’s err totally normal?

Do yourself a favour why don’t you? Brew yourself a cup of something strong and settle in to watch this. That’s exactly what I’m doing. Majestic.

Tea: Pakistan 134-5 (lead by 209 runs)

39th over: Pakistan 132-5 (Saud 29, Salman 11) A couple of overs to go before tea. England looking a bit ragged, plenty of players looking in need of a splosh of Earl Grey or a plunge in an ice bath. Stokes stitches together a maiden.

38th over: Pakistan 132-5 (Saud 29, Salman 11) Gargantuan effort from Carse who also seems to be struggling with his left boot, or has he picked up an injury? He could just be completely spent but we’ll keep an eye on him. A no ball off the final delivery doesn’t help him and Zak Crawley trots over from mid-off to give him a pat on the back. HashtagTeamSpirit. Pakistan keep working the singles and each run is now smarting that little bit more for England.

37th over: Pakistan 128-5 (Saud 28, Salman 9) Ben Stokes does what he does in times of need and decides that the time has come for him to bring himself on. He turns away in something verging on disgust as a quick single is pinched off his second ball. Those drops and the burgeoning target are weighing heavy, Pakistan lead by 200 now. Brydon Carse looks out on his feet but is coming back for another over. Test cricket is brutal.

36th over: Pakistan 124-5 (Saud 27, Salman 6) My oh my what an over! Brydon Carse sees TWO CATCHES DROPPED off his over. Stokes shows a very rare sign of frustration and screams towards the skies as the second chance hits the dirt. Carse can’t believe it either. Jamie Smith got the cymbals out for the first regulation edge from Salman and two balls later Joe Root spilled a slightly harder but still eminently graspable opportunity at first slip. Huge over in the course of the match as the Pakistan lead creeps towards 200. Ben Stokes’ plans worked with the reversing ball but his fielders have failed to see them through.

35th over: Pakistan 120-5 (Saud 26, Salman 4) Potts probes away hitting a handkerchief sized spot outside off stump. Just a Salman single off the over.

Kenneth Surin is tuned in:

“I’m in my late 70s, hearing not the best. When he delivers the ball Potts seems to yell a 4-letter expletive beginning with F? If so, isn’t this unsportsmanlike conduct?”

I think it is a grunt, Kenneth, of the sort a tennis player emits during a rally. He seems to do it every ball, not just when bowling the effort ball. Though every ball is an effort in these conditions and I’m sure the odd expletive slips out!

Hark at this! The Black Caps running amok against India in Bengalaru:

34th over: Pakistan 119-5 (Saud 26, Salman 3) The Durham pace pincer movement continues as Carse bustles in. Dust, heat and frosted tips. More signs of a reversing ball as a length delivery scuds back into Salman’s pads. The new batter then rides the bounce on a back of a length ball, fending it behind square for a couple of runs. The next ball pitches and dies a thousand deaths into the surface, spluttering to a long barrier unfurling Jamie Smith behind the sticks. This is Day Eight after all…

32nd over: Pakistan 114-5 (Saud 24, Salman 0) Right, that’s all from me – Jim is here for the rest of this pulsating day’s play.

WICKET! Pakistan 114-5 (Rizwan c Root b Carse 23)

31st over: Pakistan 112-4 (Saud 24, Rizwan 21) A third bowling change in as many overs. Matthew Potts comes on and zips his first ball past Rizwan’s outside edge.

To hell with orthodoxy, decides Rizwan. He charges Potts to flat bat a boundary over mid-off, then goes again to slug four more through midwicket. Ben Stokes applauds after both deliveries, believing that a wicket is in the post. England certainly need one because this is getting away from them.

In their different ways, Pakistan’s middle order of Kamran, Saud and Rizwan have batted superbly.

30th over: Pakistan 103-4 (Saud 24, Rizwan 12) Brydon Carse is coming on after drinks. This feels like England’s penultimate roll of the dice.

Rizwan greets him with a wild hack across the line. Where did that come from? He missed it completely but could easily have dragged on.

After a couple of solid defensive strokes, Rizwan plays tip and run to mid-off. Shakeel digs out a yorker and then hits short mid-on with a crisp clip off the pads.

Drinks: Pakistan lead by 177

28th over: Pakistan 96-4 (Saud 19, Rizwan 10) There’s still plenty of turn for England, but maybe it’s getting slower as the ball ages. Pakistan look as comfortable at any stage in this innings, and Rizwan cuts Bashir for a couple to move into double figures.

27th over: Pakistan 94-4 (Saud 19, Rizwan 8) So far Rizwan has been busy rather than aggressive, looking for singles at every opportunity. At the other end Shakeel is handling the spinners with impressive ease. It might be time for Big Brydon, although there’s risk in that because the quicker bowlers are more hittable on this pitch.

“One of the hilariously incongruent aspects of David Gower commentating alongside his erstwhile Sky colleagues is that (unlike them) he is required by the host broadcaster employing him to peddle the various ‘seamless’ drop-in sponsor messages such as for solar energy, bank accounts, tea and washing machines,” says Brian Withington. “Well it keeps me amused.”

Gower makes the best of a bad job with his playfulness, doesn’t he? Imagine if Beefy was asked to do something similar back in the day. Or Fred Trueman.

26th over: Pakistan 91-4 (Saud 18, Rizwan 6) England enquire for LBW when Rizwan is beaten on the inside by an excellent delivery from round the wicket. Rizwan was a long way forward and there were doubts on both height and line.

This has been Pakistan’s session so far: 11 overs, 48 runs, one wicket.

“Hi Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “While we’re talking about Sugababes and cover versions, this effort by Scottish folk rockers Skipinnish is up there with the most unusual. England maybe wish they could bring yesterday evening back around …”

25th over: Pakistan 89-4 (Saud 17, Rizwan 5) Pakistan’s run rate in this innings is around 3.5 per over, which is good going on such a tricky pitch. Saud charges Leach and chips nicely for a single; I think Leach saw him coming but Saud’s hands got him out of any trouble.

Rizwan also comes down the pitch to drive a more comfortable single, then Shakeel sweeps a third. Pakistan lead by 164.

24th over: Pakistan 86-4 (Saud 15, Rizwan 4) “This Test is one of those rare examples of the sequel being better than the original,” says Mike Jakeman. “For all the plaudits given to Brook and Root for their endurance and concentration in Multan 1, as a spectacle this is so much better.”

23rd over: Pakistan 82-4 (Saud 13, Rizwan 2) Stokes must be slightly tempted to go back to Carse, who has harassed Rizwan in this series, but two spinners feels like the right approach for now.

Saud reverse sweeps adroitly for a single, then Rizwan saunters down the pitch to drive the fourth and final run of Leach’s over.

“Surviving these early morning shifts, my beamish boy?” whispers Robert Smith. There is only love in my generous heart but I’m gonna have to gainsay this: ‘I’ve never batted on a 12th-day pitch but I can’t imagine it’s much fun.’ This sent me immediately down a much-loved imaginative path – Apocalyptic Cricket. Cricket defiantly played while the world ends around it – Wisden’s Last Hurrah as the meteor makes landfall or the nukes finally sweep us off the tablecloth of the planet (I ranted about it in this first para in these hallowed pages some years ago.

“Not sure why but it has always seemed to me that actual Armageddon would almost certainly be accompanied by a bunch of truculent cricket tragics somewhere giving it their last. It might need a sporting declaration or a bit of a slog but there’s be something fitting about it, a valedictory touch.

“A 12th-day pitch would be invidious, flagrant and a risk to life and limb but it would also definitely be fun.”

You’ve now got me imagining Armageddon in the Long Room at Lord’s. There isn’t enough gin in the world.