England took a firm grip on the second Test in Multan despite Abrar Ahmed wrapping up a 10-wicket haul on his Pakistan debut.
Ben Duckett's second half-century of the match and another fine knock from Harry Brook put the tourists on top, leading by 281 runs at the end of day two with five second-innings wickets standing.
Pakistan began the day on 107-2 but crumbled once the third-wicket alliance between Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel came to an end. Babar was bowled for 75 by Ollie Robinson, with the team score on 142, and Shakeel soon followed for 63, fourth man down.
That wicket went to Jack Leach, with James Anderson taking a terrific catch at mid-on to give the England spinner a 100th Test scalp. It was Leach's second wicket of the innings and he went on to take 4-98 as England raced through the tail, knocking over Pakistan for 202.
Armed with a first-innings lead of 79, England had ample time to build on that advantage and set about their task knowing Abrar was the chief threat, after taking seven wickets on Friday.
He was at it again, removing three batters to become just the second Pakistan bowler to take a 10-wicket Test haul on debut and grabbing an early run-out to boot, with a direct hit removing Zak Crawley.
Crawley's opening partner Duckett made 79 before being bowled by an Abrar grubber, with Brook standing defiant on 74 at stumps as England ended the day on 202-5, with captain Ben Stokes 16 not out.
Abrar goes it alone again
He took the first seven wickets in England's first innings, before Zahid Mahmood mopped up the tail, and Abrar was the chief threat once more on Saturday. He was the only bowler to strike, ending the day with 3-81 after delivering 21 of the 49 overs in England's innings so far. The other dismissals were both run-outs.
Duckett chasing perfection
Stuart Broad, analysing for Sky Sports, described it as a "perfect day" for England. For Duckett, this tour has been a game-changer, coming six years after he last featured in the Test side.
Back-to-back fifties in this game should now fortify his position in the team. He made a century and a duck in England's win in the first Test, but this ranks as progress beyond that, as his highest aggregate runs haul in a Test to date (142). He would be unhappy with how he got out, though, so perhaps the day was not entirely "perfect".
IPL: KKR ease past SRH into IPL final
Kolkata Knight Riders are through to the Indian Premier League final after cruising to victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday.
A dominant KKR eased to an eight-wicket win with 38 balls remaining, with Mitchell Starc inspiring the victory.
The Sunrisers chose to bat first but were in unfamiliar territory at 13-2 inside two overs as Starc bowled Travis Head, who did not get a single run, before Andre Russell caught Abhishek Sharma.
Starc took two more wickets in his second over, finishing with 3-34 as the pick of KKR’s bowlers.
Pat Cummings ensured SRH did not finish with a sub-140 total, knocking 30 before being caught by Rahmanullah Gurbaz, as they set a target of 160.
Cummings then conceded 20 runs in his first over but eventually bounced out Sunil Narine for 21 after Gurbaz was caught for 23.
Venkatesh Iyer finished with an unbeaten 51 alongside Shreyas Iyer, who top-scored with a 24-ball 58 to comfortably help KKR reach 164-2.
SRH will have another chance to make it to the final in the second qualifier where they will face either the Rajasthan Royals or Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Friday.
Data Debrief: Playoff partners
The Iyers' 97 not out off 44 balls is the second-highest scoring partnership for KKR in the playoffs.
Cummins and Vijayakanth Viyaskanth's 33-run partnership is SRH's highest for the 10th wicket in IPL, breaking the record of 22 between Dale Steyn and Praveen Kumar, but it was not enough to trouble KKR.
"Couldn’t be scripted better": King honoured to lead West Indies for the first time
Opener Brandon King will captain the West Indies for the first time when they take on South Africa in three T20Is from May 23-26 at Sabina Park in Kingston.
The 29-year-old has scored 1150 runs in 47 T20Is at an average of 28.04 since his debut against Afghanistan in Lucknow in 2019.
Captaincy is not new for King as he most recently captained the Jamaica Scorpions in the West Indies Championship after leading the Jamaica Tallawahs in last season’s Caribbean Premier League.
“Definitely,” was King’s response when asked about whether or not it is an honor to lead the regional side for the first time.
“It couldn’t be scripted better. It’s an honour to lead the West Indies in any capacity and even more to do it at home so I’m very happy,” he added.
In addition to leading the Windies for the first time, King also expressed joy at getting to do it in his home country Jamaica.
“Obviously, extremely happy. I’m always excited to play at home. It’s good that we get some cricket in especially leading up to the world cup. It brings some excitement to the fans so I’m happy about it,” he said.
The squad recently had a training camp and King is looking forward to the squad getting an opportunity to get some match practice ahead of the world cup set for June 1-29.
“Match practice is something that you can’t replicate in training. We’re coming from a training camp and this is our opportunity to put those plans and skills in place so we’re very much looking forward to it,” he said.
Despite some regular squad members being missing from the squad due to the IPL playoffs, King says the players present are looking to implement some of the plans that many hope will lead to West Indian success at the world cup.
“A few of the guys aren’t here as yet but I think the communication has been clear with the whole group. We know how we want to play and the guys that are here, we’re looking to implement that in this series and see how it goes,” he said.
Southgate envisages central role for 'brilliant' Foden at Euro 2024
Gareth Southgate believes Phil Foden's starting position is less important than the spaces he is allowed to attack, pledging to find a way of letting him operate centrally at Euro 2024.
Foden was included in England's 33-man preliminary squad on Tuesday, and he is expected to be among the first names on the teamsheet after enjoying a fine campaign.
Foden was named Premier League Player of the Season as he helped Manchester City win an unprecedented fourth straight title, scoring 19 goals and adding seven assists.
Only three players in the league bettered Foden's goal tally, while he also ranked seventh in the division for chances created (73) and fourth for possession won in the final third (35 times).
Foden scored two excellent goals as City clinched the title with a 3-1 final-day win over West Ham, drifting infield from the right to find space between the lines and in the penalty area.
While the presence of Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham and Arsenal's Bukayo Saka has led many to conclude Foden will be stationed on the left in Germany, Southgate is aware of the need to grant him positional freedom.
"Phil has played off the right, off the left, the key is where he ends up, not his starting position," Southgate said at a press conference on Tuesday.
"He plays on the left with City, sometimes he stays wide, but he's allowed to drift, and it has always been the same with us. He's allowed to drift.
"Then there's where a player has to defend. Jude has played as a 10 all season, and sometimes he has defended on the left for Real Madrid.
"It's about where these players arrive and where you allow them to drift, that's the key. I think if you spoke to all of our players, we never pin them to a touchline, that's not how we work so there is that freedom."
Foden produced a series of talismanic displays for City in the run-in, scoring match-winning hat-tricks against Brentford and Aston Villa and masterminding a vital comeback against Manchester United with two goals in March.
The 23-year-old stepped up while players like Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland were sidelined through injury, and Southgate has been impressed by his ability to shoulder that responsibility.
"It's obvious the brilliant season Phil has had, how he stepped up in big games not only when big players have been out but when he's been playing alongside them as well," Southgate added.
"You want him in central areas as you do one or two others, so we have to find the best way of making that happen."
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