The engaging action continued in Pakistan vs England first Test on Day 3. After the high scoring first two days of the match, Pakistan resumed their first innings on 181/0 with openers Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq unbeaten on 89 and 90 respectively. Both batters continued their good knock and reached their respective hundreds in the first session of the day.
The duo added 225 runs for the first wicket as England were desperate for their first wicket. They finally tasted some success as debutant Will Jacks got rid of Abdullah Shafique and got his first Test wicket. Shafique departed after scoring a marvellous 114 with the help of 13 fours and three sixes. After Shafique’s dismissal, his opening partner Imam-ul-Haq also fell quickly leaving Pakistan at 245/2.
Star batter Azhar Ali also fell quickly giving England their third wicket of the morning leaving Pakistan at 298/3 at the end of the first session. Captain Babar Azam lead the charge post-lunch and played a free-flowing innings building a good partnership with Saud Shakeel. The duo added 123 runs for the fourth wicket taking Pakistan in a commanding position.
Babar Azam scored his 8th Test hundred
Babar Azam completed his 8th Test hundred on the brink of tea off just 126 balls with the help of 19 fours and one six. Pakistan completely dominated the second session and finished at 405/3 at tea.
England got their fourth wicket in the first over right after tea as Saud Shakeel ended up edging a wide delivery by Ollie Robinson straight into the gloves of wicketkeeper Ollie Pope. Following Shakeel’s dismissal, Mohammad Rizwan joined Babar at the crease and added 60 runs for the fifth wicket with Pakistan 184 runs behind England’s total.
Will Jacks came back into the attack late on Day 3 and removed the dangerous Babar Azam who departed for a well-made 136. Babar Azam’s wicket sparked a collapse at the end of the day as Rizwan also got dismissed quickly. Naseem Shah was also shown the way to the pavilion by Will Jacks who picked his third wicket of the day. At stumps, Pakistan finished on 499/7 with Agha Salman and Zahid Mahmood at the crease.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to the action-packed Day 3 of Pakistan vs England first Test:
Now a 1st #TestMatch gets a bit interesting because first intense 3 days are over, now it’s all depends on @TheRealPCB and @englandcricket that how they tackle with the situation of match on Day 4 and Day 5.#PAKvsEng pic.twitter.com/hjNwyFFEvr
— Mahatir Muhammad Mehmood ??????? (@Mahatir81715675) December 3, 2022
Rest in peace test cricket ???#pakvseng
— Ayesha (@aashi_hr) December 3, 2022
Great opportunity for improve icc ranking and stats ? #BabarAzam #PakvsEng pic.twitter.com/S3Q8Ld8DBm
— Pintu Yadav (@pintuabd18) December 3, 2022
Robinson teaching the tricks of red ball to Anderson's. Ley the expert of red ball, Anderson.?#PakVSEng pic.twitter.com/NNA8kCs07s
— Methotrexate (@HWComrade) December 3, 2022
England will be the happier side going into the day's end as they pick 7 without any help from the pitch.
Pakistan trail by 158 as they close the day's play with 3 centurions at 499-7#PAKvsEng #ENGvPAK
— cricdu (@cric_du) December 3, 2022
Fun fact:
Crawley, Duckett, Pope, Brook, Shafique, Imam & Babar all scored centuries except World's No.1 ranked batter in test cricket. ?
PS: Even the kid below would have got a ton of that wicket, but.. #ENGvPAK #EngvsPak #PAKvENG #PakvsEng2022 #PAKvsENG #BabarAzam pic.twitter.com/SOZwG1WM37
— Vivek Reddy (@Vivek_Reddy14) December 3, 2022
Test match of #pakvseng is chance for batsmen to increase average . Its just became boring , no swing , no spin , just pathetic . Waiting for ind vs ban test series .
— Avinash (@avidewasi810) December 3, 2022
Happy to see cricket reviving in Pakistan. After #England I hope & pray that other teams will come to play in Pakistan. #PakVsEng pic.twitter.com/evqKWZA0Tm
— Farhat Abbas Kazmi (@farhatkazmii) December 3, 2022
17 years on and Lahore isn't fit to host cricket at that time of the year. #PakvsEng #Cricket
— Abdullah Haider (@wicketsandruns) December 3, 2022
Can Pakistan atleast add 100more runs at the end of their 1st innings.
Hope Salman Aghga doesnt expose the tail#PakvsEng— Ammar Rajar (@AmmarRajar) December 3, 2022
A great evening session. But will Pakistan win tomorrow?I pray that Pakistan wins ??#PAKvsEng
— Ishmalaltaf (@AltafIshmal) December 3, 2022
Everyone should realize that Babar Azam did a poor captaincy, didn’t try to stop runs and put pressure on the Eng Batsmen, Captain should have a plan B like Stokes when the pitch doesn’t play in your favor. #BabarAzam #PAKvsEng Aisi century ka kia faida Jis se team an win kare.
— Hafsa (@hebasiddiqui) December 3, 2022
