The morning session oscillated delicately between overwhelming English control and the gentlest whiff of a Pakistani opportunity; the dance redolent of a first date where one side is keen to pull away out of sight, even as the other desperately clings on. England were so sure they were steering clear, though, they didn’t quite clock Pakistan’s power to hang on and drag the dalliance out by at least one more day.
Pakistan’s first-innings implosion on Saturday might have seemed tactically baffling. But the pay-off came today as England, lulled into what might still turn out to be a true sense of security, gave away their last five wickets with the profligacy of a billionaire frittering away their fortune on a social media company. It still left Pakistan needing their second-highest fourth-innings chase to level the series, a feat that, even for a city as steeped in the folklore of yesteryear as Multan, would be historic.
But Pakistan draw their belief not from the blind faith they place in their collective process, à la England, but from the occasional jarring exceptions to the general trend of their Test batting decline. There might be collapses aplenty straddling more than just this generation of Pakistan’s Test cricket, but like the occasional brilliant flashes of light from a flame that’s invariably going out, Pakistan’s batting can occasionally sparkle with a luminescence that is no longer characteristic of it.
He saw off a barrage from England’s fire-breathing quicks post-lunch, never once worrying about a strike-rate that was likelier to dip into single figures than rise into three. That temperament demonstrated why Shakeel has the highest control percentage against seam bowling among all Pakistan batters; of the 222 seam deliveries he has faced, he has been in control of 93.24%, edging out his captain Babar Azam at 93.04%.
Saud is not a T20 player. He certainly does not have a magic carpet. But he possesses the maturity to recognise the futility of chasing after toys he cannot afford, and has learned not to lust after them either. In his first 33 balls, he had scored five runs. In his four innings for Pakistan so far, he hasn’t once managed a strike-rate in excess of 60. Juxtaposed against England’s modern, flashy shotmaking, he feels like a typewriter in the age of the smartphone, and just as exciting.
But he averages in excess of 66 in the fourth innings across his first-class career, and with two days left in this match, it matters little how quickly those runs come. Across this series, no Pakistan player has negotiated pace better. He’s unbeaten on 54 off 123 overnight, but that’s exactly what he is: unbeaten. Imam might have contributed more runs, and scored them at a greater clip, but a flash at dusk outside off means he won’t be worrying England anymore.
Even so, England have been dragged back for another date, the prospect of nothing to separate the two sides as they fly together onto Karachi very much real. The visitors may yet feel they’re well placed to escape Pakistan’s clutches, but Shakeel’s grit, and the contradictory weirdness innate in Pakistan’s batting record this year, ensures there’ll be plenty of butterflies in English stomachs overnight.
