KARACHI: In a highly disappointing show, Pakistan face their first Test whitewash at home with England needing just 55 runs on the penultimate day to inflict upon the hosts a 3-0 series loss in the third Test here at the National Stadium.

Babar Azam’s men fell to yet another collapse on Monday when they were bundled out for a paltry 216 as England leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed became the youngest debutant to take five wickets in an innings.

Chasing a 167-run target with more than two days to spare, England plundered 112 with openers Zak Crawley and Bun Duckett giving them a 87-run start before the former and Rehan — coming in as the nightwatchman — were dismissed by Abrar Ahmed.

Cruising at 164-3 at one point with Babar and Saud Shakeel solid at the crease after reaching their half-centuries, Pakistan lost seven wickets for just 52 runs after both lost their wickets to rash strokes.

“We committed mistakes, especially Babar and I played loose shots and that caused a collapse... which was tough to overcome,” Saud said during the post-day press conference.

It all started when Babar — after having scored 54 off 104 balls — pulled a half-tracker by Rehan straight into the hands of Ollie Pope at midwicket.

Four overs later, Mohammad Rizwan became Rehan’s second victim when the Pakistan wicket-keeper was caught behind with his footwork all over the place after adding just seven.

Saud was next to depart, miscuing a sweep off Rehan to find Jack Leach after scoring 53 off 133, leaving Pakistan in deep trouble at 177-6 before Faheem Ashraf was undone by part-time off-spinner Joe Root in similar fashion to his first-innings dismissal off Rehan.

Nauman Ali and Salman Ali Agha provided some resistance on behalf of Pakistan, adding 30 for the eighth wicket before the former was trapped lbw by pacer Mark Wood.

Rehan completed his five-wicket haul with Mohammad Wasim’s scalp, which marked the end of Pakistan’s innings.

“I don’t think it has sunk in yet, but yes I am very grateful,” Rehan said of his achievement after stumps. “I bowled better balls and not got wickets, so to get a wicket is nice, especially when it is Babar,” the spinner added about taking Babar’s prized wicket.

Earlier, Pakistan openers Abdullah Shafique and Shan Masood — who started the day with the hosts at 21-0 — put up 53 together.

Shan indicated Pakistan were looking for quick runs as he smashed three fours off Root in the day’s first over. The left-hander also hit a six before Abdullah struck two boundaries but then was castled by Leach’s left-arm spin in an attempt to play a reverse sweep.

Leach struck again four balls later when he bamboozled Azhar Ali — playing his last Test innings — with a sharp turner to destroy his stumps.

The bespectacled slow left-armer then trapped Abdullah leg-before after seven balls, leaving Babar and Saud at the crease.

The duo went on to combine for 110 runs as they negotiated brilliantly with Leach’s spin in particular. Courtesy of some great footwork, they kept finding boundaries off lose balls before both fell.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN (1st Innings) 304 (Babar Azam 78, Agha Salman 56; Jack Leach 4-140)
ENGLAND (1st Innings) 354 (H. Brook 111, O. Pope 51; Nauman Ali 4-126, Abrar Ahmed 4-150)
PAKISTAN (2nd innings, overnight 21-0):
Abdullah Shafique lbw b Leach 26
Shan Masood b Leach 24
Azhar Ali b Leach 0
Babar Azam c Pope b Ahmed 54
Saud Shakeel c Leach b Ahmed 53
Mohammad Rizwan c Foakes b Ahmed 7
Agha Salman c Brook b Ahmed 21
Faheem Ashraf c Foakes b Root 1
Nauman Ali lbw b Wood 15
Mohammad Wasim c Robinson b Ahmed 2
Abrar Ahmed not out 1

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-3, NB-5) 12
TOTAL (all out; 74.5 overs) 216
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-53 (Shan), 2-53 (Azhar), 3-54 (Abdullah), 4-164 (Babar), 5-176 (Rizwan), 6-177 (Saud), 7-178 (Faheem), 8-208 (Nauman), 9-211 (Wasim)

BOWLING: Leach 26-6-72-3 (1nb), Root 7-1-31-1, Ahmed 14.5-1-48-5, Wood 12-3-25-1, Robinson 7-1-13-0, Stokes 8-3-20-0 (4nb)

ENGLAND (2nd Innings):
Z. Crawley lbw b Abrar 41
B. Duckett not out 50
Rehan Ahmed b Abrar 10
B. Stokes not out 10

EXTRAS (LB-1) 1
TOTAL (for two wickets; 17 overs) 112
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-87 (Crawley), 2-97 (Ahmed)
STILL TO BAT: O. Pope, J. Root, H. Brook, B. Foakes, O. Robinson, M. Wood, J. Leach
BOWLING: Abrar 6-0-43-2, Nauman 5-0-38-0, Wasim 4-0-17-0, Faheem 2-0-13-0.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2022