England’s top order fell apart on the first morning of the series deciding third Test against Pakistan, tumbling to 110 for five in Rawalpindi.
Facing the familiar duo of Sajid Khan and Noman Ali, the spinners who shared all 20 wickets in their side’s victory in Multan, the tourists once again came up short against the turning ball.
Ben Duckett managed 52 before being undone by a shin-high shooter but his was the only real resistance on a surface that the hosts have cooked, baked and raked in the build-up.
At one stage Pakistan took four for 28, leaving them in control after the first session.
The touring team had predicted the surface would start flat and deteriorate as the game progressed, leaving Ben Stokes visibly delighted to bat first after ending England’s seven-match losing streak at the toss.
Pakistan picked up exactly where they had left off in the second Test, pairing Sajid and Noman from the start with not even a cursory look at their solitary seamer Aamer Jamal. They would bowl unchanged until lunch.
England made steady progress to start, bringing up their 56 in 14 overs – a red herring of a partnership given what was around the corner. The openers briefly switched roles, Zak Crawley nailing a couple of a sweeps early on, while Duckett used his feet to hit over the top.
The latter survived an lbw shout on 20, though there was a warning flag when DRS showed the ball had been spinning too sharply and was missing leg stump.
Crawley (29) could not blame excessive turn for his dismissal though, looking to punch Noman through extra-cover but only getting half forward as he carved a simple catch to backward point.
That breakthrough appeared to tip the balance in Pakistan’s favour as chances began to come thick and fast. Duckett came within a couple of inches of picking out mid-off on 34 but outlived both Pope and Root, who were picked apart by Sajid.
Pope’s lean series continued as he fell for three, lbw on the sweep as he went over the top, but Root’s downfall hurt the most. England’s most accomplished player of spin was pinned dead in front of the stumps as Sajid got a delivery to rip back aggressively from ridges outside off.
Duckett nudged past his half-century before getting a near unplayable ball from Noman that scuttled through impossibly low, while Harry Brook lost his leg stump to Sajid reaching for an ill-judged sweep.
Stokes and Jamie Smith managed to reach the break but had plenty to do to recover a tricky position.