Saud Shakeel scored his fourth Test hundred as Pakistan got themselves back into their Test against England at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The southpaw brought up his three-figure score off 181 balls as Pakistan kept building pressure on England in the series decider.
After England scored 267 in the first innings, Pakistan got off to a relatively steady start as Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub put on 35 runs for the opening wickets. But soon, the home team was reduced to 46 for three in 13.4 overs.
Pakistan kept losing wickets as England’s spin trio of Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed kept hitting the right channels. Shakeel, however, did not throw his wicket away and brought up his half-century off 82 balls.
Wickets kept falling at the other end as Pakistan once found themselves at 177 for the loss of seven wickets. From there on, Shakeel and Noman Ali joined hands to build a vital partnership of 88 runs for the eighth wicket off 25.1 overs.
Noman lent Shakeel support with a knock of 45 off 84 balls, laced with two fours and a six. The duo also made sure that Pakistan equalled England’s first innings score at Tea on the second day.
It was just at the stroke of Tea that Noman lost his wicket and fell short of a half-century. Bashir, who also got the wickets of Abdullah Shafique and Shan Masood, dismissed him.
As far as Shakeel is concerned, he holds the record for the joint-fastest Pakistani batter to the landmark of 1000 Test runs. He equalled Saeed Ahmed’s record, set back in 1959.
He had also become the first batter to score fifties in each of his first seven Test matches. Back in July 2023, Shakeel also scored a double hundred against Sri Lanka in Galle.
