Ben Duckett and Joe Root maintain England’s lead against Pakistan.

Ben Duckett aggressively confronted the Pakistani bowlers, while Joe Root delivered a steady performance to maintain England’s dominance during the third day’s play in the first Test at Multan Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.

At Lunch on Day 3, England amassed 232 runs for the loss of 2 wickets, with Ben Duckett and Joe Root at the crease, having scored 80 and 72 runs, respectively.

Pakistan achieved an early breakthrough by dismissing established England batsman Zak Crawley, who was scoring 78 runs off 85 balls.

Subsequent to the dismissal, Duckett partnered with Root, collectively assaulting the Pakistan bowlers and establishing a 119* run partnership for the third wicket in 124 balls.

Duckett, unable to commence the innings yesterday owing to a finger injury, had an aggressive playing style with a strike rate of 100. Concurrently, the in-form Root persisted in demonstrating his refined strokeplay.

At the conclusion of Day 2, England’s score was 96/1, with Crawley undefeated on 64 from 64 balls and Joe Root not out on 32.

The touring team experienced a tumultuous beginning to their first innings, losing their interim leader Ollie Pope for a two-ball duck.

Crawley executed an impressive recovery for England with a rapid innings, while Root maintained a conservative approach until the conclusion of play.

Reverting Aamir Jamal secured the only wicket for Pakistan on the second day.

Before then, Pakistan lost two wickets rapidly in the third session after accumulating a substantial total of 556 runs.

Abrar Ahmed (3) was the final wicket to be dismissed, succumbing to part-time bowler Joe Root. Before that, Shaheen Shah Afridi, who made a significant contribution of 26 runs, was dismissed by Jack Leach.

Salman Ali Agha scored an undefeated 104 runs off 119 balls, including ten boundaries and three sixes.

Pakistan skipper Shan Masood achieved the highest score with a lengthy 151 runs off 177 balls, including 13 fours and two sixes.

Opening batsman Abdullah Shafique delivered an impressive innings of 102 runs off 184 balls, featuring twelve boundaries and two sixes.

Shan chose to bat first after winning the toss and entered the crease in the fourth over following Saim Ayub’s dismissal for 4 runs by Gus Atkinson.

Playing XI for Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (captain), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Abrar Ahmad.

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