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Key events
9th over: England 70-0 (Crawley 37, Duckett 33) Wasim keeps it tight. Not sure what’s gone wrong here, but the run rate has plummeted to just under eight.
“Tim,” says Kim Thonger, “to wind Geoffrey up, in this remarkable new cricketing epoch in which we find ourselves, can we redesignate his famed space outside off stump The Corridor of Flamboyancy?” Haha.
8th over: England 67-0 (Crawley 36, Duckett 31) Heartened by that change, Babar makes another, replacing Nauman with Faheem Ashraf, so it’s seam at both ends. His over goes for only three, which is like bowling a maiden to any normal pair of Test openers.
“Presumably the best way to avoid getting caught on a fifth-day wicket,” says Janet Stevens, “is not to let the match go to a fifth day?” Ha. “Happy Christmas Tim and all OBO colleagues – Janet in France.” Thanks and Happy Christmas to you too.
7th over: England 64-0 (Crawley 35, Duckett 29) Babar Azam is not a dynamic captain, but even he can see the need for a change here. He takes Abrar off and turns to seam in the shape of Mohammad Wasim. It helps a bit but Duckett, unperturbed, plays a clip for four with sweet timing.
England need 103 more. “What a stunning performance it has been,” says Mike Atherton, “on these flat unresponsive pitches, to bowl Pakistan out every time.”
“England (men and women) have played some pretty decent cricket in 2022,” says John Starbuck. “I hope there’s going to be at least a two-page spread on this in the Guardian before 2023.”
Fifty partnership!
6th over: England 58-0 (Crawley 34, Duckett 24) Crawley plays a gorgeous shot – an inside-out off-drive, threaded into a slender gap. And that’s the fifty partnership, off 28 balls. He celebrates by going aerial with an on-drive, not lofted but skimmed over mid-on.
5th over: England 48-0 (Crawley 25, Duckett 23) Crawley, facing Abrar, plays a sweep of great delicacy, as if to say, “It’s not all biffing, you know.” The graphics people do a little compilation of the best shots of this innings and caption it “Powerplay”. Test cricket is so much fun now.
Something for his family to frame
4th over: England 41-0 (Crawley 20, Duckett 21) Duckett brings out the reverse sweep and gets four for it, but this is a better over from Nauman, using his experience to manage some dots. Even so, Duckett has 21 off ten balls, Crawley 20 off 14. Can someone get a comment from Geoff Boycott?
3rd over: England 34-0 (Crawley 19, Duckett 15) Duckett is facing Abrar for the first time today. Does he take a couple of balls to settle in? He does not – he just whacks him over mid-on for four. Crawley sees that and trumps it with an on-drive, very Pietersenesque, and a straight drive. They’re chugging along at 11 an over.
2nd over: England 21-0 (Crawley 11, Duckett 10) Anything Crawley can do, Duckett can do too, in his own way – not driving but sweeping and pulling. First he plays a pull for four off Nauman Ali, placed very precisely between short midwicket and mid-on, then a sweep for four more. Another sweep might bring another four if it didn’t clatter into Shafique’s knee at short leg (ouch!) and go away for a single. Crawley then joins in the supermarket sweep with a paddle for three. They’re going for it tonight!
“That last wicket,” says Daniel Howell, “‘c Brook b Rehan’. Wonder how often we will be seeing that over the coming decade or so…”
1st over: England 8-0 (Crawley 8, Duckett 0) Not even Stokes’s England can hit 167 in 80 minutes, can they? They seem to be thinking about it. Abrar Ahmed opens the bowling again and Crawley, who fell to him for a duck in the first innings, doesn’t let that bother him – he comes down the track and on-drives the first ball for four, before adding a cover drive for four more. Then there’s an LBW appeal and a review, but Crawley is so far down the pitch that the impact is umpire’s call, so he survives.
“Seven down,” says Kim Thonger. “993 to go! Well done Rehan.”
“Congrats to Rehan!” says Michael Friend. “What a performance. Imagine how proud Shane Warne would have been. He recognised talent when he saw it.” He certainly did. Somewhere up there, a contented chortle is ringing out.
Take that, Pat
England need 167 to win (in two days)
So the wicket was Salman Agha, c Brook b Rehan 21, the target is 167 and Rehan finishes with five for 48. At 18! Either Stokes brought him on at just the right moment, or he took far too long and then got lucky. “The best thing about it,” says Stuart Broad, “is that it’s a game-changer.”
Five for Rehan! Pakistan 216 all out
He’s done it!! Salman Agha top-edges a sweep, it’s an easy catch for someone at short fine leg, and that’s the five-for for Rehan Ahmed, aged 18. He sinks to his knees and kisses the turf of his father’s homeland, before leading the team off, smiling broadly. His dad, in the stand, dabs a tear from his eye. A fabulous moment.
74th over: Pakistan 214-9 (Agha 19, Abrar 1) As well as being his partner’s helmet-bearer, Salman Agha has to farm the strike. He manages it in this over from Wood, playing out four dots, then fending off a bouncer to nick a single. Abrar, helmet on at last, has one ball to face and gets rapped on the pad. It’s missing leg but Stokes tries a review.
“Morning Tim, morning everyone!” says Harkarn Sumal. “The most commonly heard phrase in modern Test cricket is surely ‘I’m afraid you’re going to have to reverse your decision, Joel. You’re on camera now.’” Harsh but funny.
73rd over: Pakistan 213-9 (Agha 18, Abrar 1) One Ahmed faces another – Abrar, trying to stop Rehan doing what he did the other day, grabbing a five-for on debut. His approach to batting is an unusual one, bringing a helmet out but getting his partner Salman Agha to carry it for him.
Wicket! Wasim c Robinson b Rehan 2 (Pakistan 211-9)
A four-for for Rehan Ahmed! In his first Test and fourth first-class match. He tosses the googly up, inviting something florid, and Mohammad Wasim obliges with a clonk to mid-off. Rehan has a chance of five now…
72nd over: Pakistan 210-8 (Agha 16, Wasim 2) Here’s Mohammad Wasim, who knows all about inswinging yorkers, which is lucky as he gets one right away and clips it for two. But that over is another feather in the cap of Mark Wood, who is a great bowler overseas.
Wicket! Nauman lbw b Wood 15 (Pakistan 208-8)
The breakthrough! And the first wicket for a seamer in this innings. Wood pushes Nauman back with a bouncer, then thumps a fuller ball into the pad, somewhere near leg stump. It’s not given on the field by Joel Wilson, but Stokes reviews and gets it right as the three reds come up.
71st over: Pakistan 208-7 (Agha 16, Nauman 15) While Stokes rings the changes at one end, Rehan wheels away at the other. His 11th over on the trot is back in his tidy mode, going for just two singles.
70th over: Pakistan 206-7 (Agha 14, Nauman 15) Sure enough, here comes Mark Wood, with a slip, a leg slip and a short leg – not Pope but Stokes, who must surely have a private bet with a mate to see if he can spring ten surprises a day.
“Sitting on a Danish ferry,” says the next email, “cold and wet outside and effing handball highlights on the communal TV. Your MBM a great comfort. A question (disclaimer – I love cricket but there is SO much I still don’t understand) – you always talk about pitches deteriorating over the course of a Test match. Presumably this is player-induced wear and tear rather than natural entropy. So is the biff and baff of Bazzball resulting in pitches deteriorating much faster? Or is over rate the determinant? Just wondering.
“Thanks for the great coverage – keeping me sane. John Moloney, M/S Ærøskøbing, somewhere in the Baltic.” Thank you! I’m no groundsman but I believe the deterioration is both of the above – the fats bowlers cause the rough, but nature plays a part too as the pitch is exposed to the sun.
69th over: Pakistan 206-7 (Agha 14, Nauman 15) Rehan drops short again, outside off this time, and Agha cuts him for four. Time for some seam, surely.
“Ho ho ho,” says Maurice Crichton. “I’m impersonating a certain gentleman in red velvet all week in a barn near Thirsk.” Love it. “A small group of around 20 comes through at 15-minute intervals for a story and a chat. My little world includes an eco-fuelled stove, a tuneless piano, a beautiful Christmas tree and an elf called Robin. Between groups there’s just time to check on the latest position in Karachi. It’s beginning to look a lot like 3-0.”
As OBO contributions go, that is one of the best.
68th over: Pakistan 200-7 (Agha 9, Nauman 14) Back to form, Stokes replaces Leach with Root. He bowls something “almost unique,” according to David Gower: a slower-ball bouncer. Should that be even-slower-ball? It nearly works too, as Nauman plays a surprised pop-pull that could have gone to hand at mid-on, but instead goes for two. Pakistan lead by 150.
67th over: Pakistan 197-7 (Agha 8, Nauman 12) If you’re bowling for Ben Stokes’s team, the one way to be be sure of staying on is to dish up a really poor over. Not that it’s bad captaincy: Rehan duly follows his mini-shocker with something much steadier, conceding just a single to each batter.
“Jimmy Anderson’s 675 Test wickets,” Kim Thonger notes, “have come in 177 Tests over 19 years at 3.81 per game. If Rehan is a fixture in this side until he’s, say, 40, which ought to be possible, perhaps probable, he’s almost bound to overtake Jimmy isn’t he? Maybe 1000 victims should be his goal? He looks more than capable of achieving it.”
Probable?! Tell that to Matt Parkinson, Scott Borthwick, Ian Salisbury ..
66th over: Pakistan 195-7 (Agha 7, Nauman 11) Leach gets a two-over spell! And finds the inside edge of Agha’s bat with an arm ball, but there’s no short leg, oddly, and it dribbles harmlessly away.
65th over: Pakistan 193-7 (Agha 6, Nauman 10) Rehan tries his trusty long hop, twice, and gets pulled for four, twice, by Nauman Ali, who is twice his age.
“Research should pull up the fact that the ‘Bosie’ derives from the inventions of Bernard Bosanquet, which just goes to show that adding ‘ie’ or ‘y’ to a cricketer’s surname was prevalent in the 1890s too.” Ha. Do you think WG was known to his team-mates as Gracie?
64th over: Pakistan 184-7 (Agha 5, Nauman 2) Leach and Root really do seem to be sharing an end – never mind the wicket, Leach comes back on. Agha responds with a lap-sweep for two, the best shot for some time.
63rd over: Pakistan 181-7 (Agha 2, Nauman 2) Rehan keeps the pressure on by beating Salman Agha with a leg-break.
Going onto WhatsApp, I find a message from when he took his first wicket today. It’s from Steven Lynch, Wisden veteran, author of the legendary Ask Steven column, and a leggie himself. “Typical legspinner,” said Steven, “Good ball driven for four, crappy short one drilled straight to midwicket,.”
62nd over: Pakistan 179-7 (Agha 1, Nauman 1) Stokes has often seemed to have a golden arm as a bowler and now he has a golden hand as a captain. His policy of giving Leach and Root alternate overs pays off as Root not only dismisses Ashraf but then twice beats Nauman Ali, another left-hander, outside off. Pakistan lead by 129, they’ve lost four for 15, and we could even have a result tonight!
Wicket! Faheem Ashraf c Foakes b Root 1 (Pakistan 178-7)
One brings four! Joe Root turns his off-break – a leggie to the left-hander – out of the rough, and Faheem, going for a big hit, can only offer another comfortable catch to Ben Foakes.
61st over: Pakistan 178-6 (Agha 1, Ashraf 1) Rehan continues and beats Salman Agha outside off. Not sure if it’s him or the pitch, but his leg-break is turning just enough to threaten the edge. As Mark Butcher pointed out in the tea break, Anil Kumble took hundreds of Test wickets without getting big turn.
“Enjoying nice sunset in Siquijor, Philippines,” says Clive Russell, “and started a Google search on the googly. (Apparently also known as a Bosie) Just wondering how easy it is for a batsman to spot one.” Ha – that rather depends on the bowler. Now that you’ve searched for the googly on Google, I trust you will search for the Bosie on a Bose hi-fi.
“Since you asked…” says Lindley Owen, picking up on my plea from the 55th over. “Reading about a teenager getting cheap wickets in sunny Karachi while winter rain lashes this OAP on the darkest day, makes the latter easier to bear!”
Teenage rampage
The board is beckoning
Tea: England back on top
60th over: Pakistan 177-6 (Agha 1, Ashraf 0) Stokes, still mixing it up, takes Root off after a single over and brings back Leach. He bowls a maiden to Salman Agha and that’s tea, with England well on top. The session looked like belonging to Babar and Shakeel, only for Rehan Ahmed to nip in and remove them both. He has 3-21, his Test-best. Pakistan’s lead is a fragile 127.
“The OBO,” says John Atkinson, “is providing welcome light relief from an airport delay. Flight to Vancouver was due to leave 2 and a half hours ago. Auckland time means that it’s now nearly 22:30 and the 9 y old and 5 y old are restless. Interested to see how this one pans out – Pakistan know England will chase anything so can’t see a declaration any time soon. [This was before the flurry of wickets.’] Keep up the good work.” Thanks! Hope the kids settle.
59th over: Pakistan 177-6 (Agha 1, Ashraf 0) So Rehan has done what Leach did earlier today and taken three wickets in no time. His Test bowling average is 22!
“When I was 18,” says Ollie Benson, “I worked at a newsagent and was perpetually stoned. Rehan you legend!”
Wicket!! Shakeel c Leach b Rehan 53 (Pakistan 177-6)
Rehan does it again! His googly bamboozles Shakeel, who goes for the sweep and can only top-edge to backward square, where Leach takes a simple catch.
58th over: Pakistan 176-5 (Shakeel 53, Agha 0) Stokes, not one to rest on his laurels, takes Leach off and turns to Root for an over or two before tea. His old mate responds with a maiden to Shakeel.
That catch from Foakes, by the way, was his 50th in Tests. He’s been quietly excellent here: it was his partnership with Brook that got rid of Babar in the first innings – a fizzing throw, a wide-awake take – even before they added a hundred to turn the tide in the middle of England’s innings.
57th over: Pakistan 176-5 (Shakeel 53, Agha 0) Rehan beats Salman Agha first ball to make it three victories in a row, two of them moral. Rizwan, before his demise, had just spooned a cut to short extra, where Crawley spilled it down near his left ankle.
Wicket!! Rizwan c Foakes b Rehan 7 (Pakistan 176-5)
The kid stays in the picture! A classical leg-break, kissing the outside edge, and that’s the end of Rizwan – who may have been dropped the ball before. England are back on top, thanks to an 18-year-old.
56th over: Pakistan 173-4 (Shakeel 52, Rizwan 5) Rizwan, facing Leach, props forward and gives a quarter-chance to Pope at silly point. He’s very close in, and rightly so as the ball lands just under his hands – but it means he doesn’t quite have time to get those hands down to where the ball is, dying on him.
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