Masood, Abdullah centuries lift Pakistan to 328-4 in first England Test

MULTAN: Skipper Shan Masood and opener Abdullah Shafique both cracked centuries as Pakistan scored an impressive 328-4 on the opening day of the first Test against England in Multan on Monday.

Masood’s brilliant 151 was his first hundred for four years, while Shafique also returned to form with 102 as the pair put on a solid 253-run stand for the second wicket after Pakistan won the toss and batted.

England, led by Ollie Pope in the absence of the injured Ben Stokes, briefly fought back when they removed both Masood and Shafique in the space of just two runs in the third session. The visitors then took the second new ball at 308-3 and dismissed Babar Azam, trapped leg-before by fast bowler Chris Woakes for 30. Saud Shakeel was unbeaten on 35 at the close of play, with nightwatchman Naseem Shah yet to score.

England’s attack toiled hard in the Multan heat, with fast bowler Gus Atkinson the most successful with 2-70. Woakes and spinner Jack Leach both took a wicket each. Masood had been under pressure to make runs, with his last hundred coming against the same opponents at Manchester in 2020 -- 14 Tests and 27 innings ago.

He pushed Woakes for a single to complete his fifth Test hundred off just 102 balls with two sixes and 13 fours in a dominant display of batting. Shafique was equally assured as the pair made England’s three-pronged pace attack and two spinners toil on a batting-friendly pitch.

“Thanks to the management that they backed me in my lean phase,” he said. “I am happy that I have contributed today. As a batting unit, we have done well but we still need to carry on tomorrow,” Shafique said.

Assistant coach Jeetan Patel was satisfied with the hard work put in by England’s bowlers. “The toil the bowlers put in today was great,” said former New Zealand spinner Patel. “They tried different things to take wickets, with different fields.”

“We are pretty happy with what we have ended up with. We would have liked them six down or all out but it’s a sub-continental pitch.” England took a wicket in the fourth over when Atkinson forced opener Saim Ayub to glove a shorter ball down the leg side to wicketkeeper Jamie Smith with the total on eight.

Pakistan won the toss

Pakistan 1st innings

Shafique c Pope b Atkinson 102

Ayub c Smith b Atkinson 4

Masood c&b Jack Leach 151

Azam lbw Chris Woakes 30

Shakeel not out 35

Shah not out 0

Extras: 1b 1lb 1nb 0pen 3w 6

Total: (86.0 overs) 328-4

Fall of wickets: 1-8 Ayub, 2-261 Shafique, 3-263 Khan, 4-324 Azam

To Bat: Rizwan, Agha, Jamal, Afridi, Ahmed

Bowling: Chris Woakes 15-2-58-1, Gus Atkinson 15-2-70-2, Brydon Carse 14-2-52-0, Shoaib Bashir 18-2-71-0, Jack Leach 21-4-61-1, Joe Root 3-0-14-0

England Team: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Gus Atkinson, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir

Umpire: Dharmasena, Saikat