Sajid Khan Shines as Pakistan Eyes Victory in the 2nd Test Against England
Sajid Khan’s outstanding seven-wicket haul and significant contributions from the lower order placed Pakistan in a commanding position on the third day of the second Test against England.
Setting a tough target of 297 runs for England, Sajid’s performance was crucial as Pakistan looked to win their first home Test since 2021. England was 36 for 2 at the close of the third day, and they still needed 261 runs to win.
Key Performances and Match Scorecard
England 291 (Duckett 114, Sajid 7-111) and 36 for 2 trail Pakistan 366 and 221 (Salman 63, Bashir 4-66) by 261 runs.
Match Analysis
Sajid Khan turned the Multan rematch Pakistan’s way with a flick of his moustache and a glint in his eye. Lower-order runs proved to be essential after a first-innings seven-for, which helped England set a challenging target of 297 to win the second Test. Ben Duckett, who was England’s centurion on the second day and was crucial to their hopes of a successful chase, was subsequently removed by Sajid with his third delivery.
Sajid, who took four wickets for England during the second evening to put his side ahead, described himself as “always the first to be kicked out” despite being an unremarkable offspinner on paper and something of an afterthought in the selection process. However, he has given Pakistan’s attempts to end a losing streak at home that dates back to 2021 some much-needed character with his shaved head, lush facial hair, and vibrant celebrations.
Sajid walked to the crease during the evening session with the scoreboard reading 156 for 8, having taken three of the four England wickets to fall in the first hour of day three, giving Pakistan a 75-run lead and personal statistics of 7 for 111 – the best for an innings in Tests at Multan. England was planning to chase between 230 and 240 runs, but Sajid and Salman Agha produced a brilliant 65-run partnership, easily the highest on a day that saw 16 wickets fall and the spinners flourish.
Salman carried much of the scoring, making his third fifty-plus score of the series to push the aim closer to 300. The fact that he could have been out of the game in two single figures just made England’s suffering on the field even worse. Bowler Brydon Carse was unlucky as two opportunities fell in three balls: first, Jamie Smith failed to retain a standard nick behind the stumps, and then Joe Root smashed another to his right. Only a little amount of compensation came from the fact that Root was wearing a helmet and stood close to the wicket.
Pakistan appeared to be set up for another collapse after losing three wickets to Shoaib Bashir to be 43 for 3 at lunch. The country’s problems in the third innings have been widely documented, as they failed to take advantage of positions of variable promise against Australia and Bangladesh. Root was unable to bring his hands up to a flashed cut at slip, so Saud Shakeel had to help level things out even though he also had a life off Carse.
England hoped to quickly finish the batting when Shakeel was trapped leg before wicket by Jack Leach, the first of three wickets to fall in five overs after tea. However, Salman responded right away, hitting three fours off of his next seven balls and then lofting Leach straight over long-off for six to reach his half-century. England’s goal increased quickly as the ninth-wicket combination took fewer than eight overs to reach the fifty-stand, ultimately necessitating the second-highest successful chase in Pakistan and by far the biggest in Asia.
Sajid narrowly avoided being caught at long-on when Duckett was forced to toss the ball back in as he crossed the rope. However, he was given out leg before wicket to a full toss by Matt Potts after UltraEdge picked up an inside edge. Although he might have been out on 20, England was unable to review for caught behind because the DRS was momentarily down.
After a late reward for the fast bowler’s tenacity and talent in trying circumstances, Salman spliced a pull to midwicket, which allowed Carse to eventually break through, and Potts dismissed Sajid. But in the opening over of the chase, after Duckett had top-edged a sweep straight up to leave for a two-ball duck, the spinner grabbed centre stage once more, ball in hand, eyes bulging like a cartoon supervillain.
Then, with England down to 11 for 2, Noman Ali bowled a brilliantly timed delivery to stump Zak Crawley at a considerable distance. The opener fell to his knees as he turned to witness Mohammad Rizwan break the bails. Ollie Pope and Root carried them to the end, but if England were to continue winning in Pakistan, there would be much more work to be done on a wicket that is becoming more and more erratic.
It was all quite different from the first Test match played at this stadium, where just 13 wickets were lost in the first three days; at the same point in the pitch’s second iteration, the total was up to 32.
Sajid’s four-wicket burst on the second evening had damaged England’s hopes, and when play began, he did not have to wait long for his second Test five-for. Carse went straight to long-on, and Potts struggled to get his pads off so they were bowled between his legs. Then, trying to hit out with the tail, Smith could only miscue high to long-off, giving Noman his 50th wicket in Test cricket.
Leach and Bashir shared a last-wicket stand of 29 runs, which reduced the margin, but Sajid’s seventh wicket ended the innings. Then, just before lunch, Pakistan’s turn to get nervous as all three of their leading scorers went out in the span of 15 overs.
Despite not having seen much success on tour thus far, Bashir rose to the occasion when Ben Stokes threw him the new ball. The breakthrough came in his third over when Abdullah Shafique was declared to have feathered a catch behind down the leg side.
However, it took the third umpire, Sharfuddoula, some considerable time to decide this after England had gone to the DRS. Pakistan’s opening partnership ended at 9 after Shafique was dismissed; this is the ninth time in ten innings that he and Saim Ayub have failed to score more than ten runs together.
Shan Masood did not last long, as he was squared up at second slip by someone who tore off a length to smash the splice for a crisp catch to Pope. England’s spinners had plenty of turn and bounce, and in the last delivery before the interval, Bashir lifted Ayub, who leaned forward to give Pope an easier opportunity.
Pakistan needed stability, and Shakeel’s three tenacious stands in the 1930s provided it. After scoring a hundred runs in the first innings, Kamran Ghulam, who was making his debut, showed off more of his skills before Leach trapped him plumb lbw.
After England got the ball to reverse swing, Rizwan continued his struggle with Carse and eventually fell to him for the third time in as many innings. Reversing the trajectory of this Test might depend on preventing Sajid from receiving the highest billing on day four.
