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89th over: Pakistan 275-5 (Shakeel 85, Nawaz 38) Jimmy Anderson replaces Ollie Robinson, who bowled a challenging four-over spell with the second new ball.
Shakeel thick-edges a good delivery for four, with the ball going between the men at first and maybe fourth slip. It didn’t carry anyway. Right here, right now, Pakistan are in control of this runchase.
88th over: Pakistan 270-5 (Shakeel 80, Nawaz 38) Nawaz survives a biggish LBW appeal after missing a sweep at Leach. Outside the line. All of a sudden Pakistan need only 85 to win.
87th over: Pakistan 267-5 (Shakeel 78, Nawaz 37) Shakeel works a short ball off the body for a tight single, though Nawaz was comfortably home when Duckett’s throw whistled past the stumps.
This is a good spell from Robinson, who has gone past the edge a few times – and there’s another, with Nawaz playing and missing outside off stump. Nawaz’s comeback is superb; he walks down the track to push-drive Robinson between extra cover and mid-off for four. Lovely.
86th over: Pakistan 262-5 (Shakeel 77, Nawaz 33) Leach is on for Root, which might tempt Shakeel to emerge from his bunker. Not yet; just one from the over.
“As an England fan I would love to see England scrape over the line again here and wrap up the series,” says Brendan Large. “But as a sports fan, a decider in the third Test would be great, and another examination of this new Bazball philosophy. In addition, there is no way Abrar should be on the losing side here.”
85th over: Pakistan 261-5 (Shakeel 76, Nawaz 33) Nawaz is beaten again by Robinson, driving extravagantly outside off stump, and then works a single to bring up a precious fifty partnership. Robinson beats him again at the end of the over.
England are two wickets away from the lower order, so they won’t be panicking, but they could really do with breaking this partnership before lunch. Nawaz’s speed of scoring, 33 from 41 balls, makes him especially dangerous.
84th over: Pakistan 259-5 (Shakeel 75, Nawaz 32) Nawaz is going after Root. He clouts another boundary through extra cover to bring Pakistan’s target below 100, then misses an attempted sweep.
“Morning from Johannesburg, Rob,” says Darryl Accone. “You note that Pope missed a very difficult chance off Shakeel. Likely that a specialist keeper like the much-abused Ben Foakes would have gloved it? I do think that successive generations of English selectors, captains and others colluding in such Popish plots deserve to be damned for the way they have treated many great English keepers (and waves of opening hopefuls optimistically selected and then callously discarded).
“That Foakes had to endure the indignity of the never-quite-there Jos Buttler being given the gloves ahead of him pales beside the latest stroke of selectorial “inspiration”: someone who has scarcely kept wicket at first-class level. If this were a Greek tragedy, England’s hubris would be punished by the fatal flaw of Pope’s ‘keeping’. Here’s holding thumbs for a Pakistan win.”
I do think Foakes has been hard done by, especially during that West Indies tour in 2018-19, but on this occasion I understand the logic; Stokes wants as many bowling options as possible, which means they have to sacrifice somebody.
83rd over: Pakistan 253-5 (Shakeel 74, Nawaz 27) Robinson continues to Shakeel, who takes a quick single to short midwicket. Aside from a boundary that was wrongly given when he missed a sweep, I think Shakeel has dealt exclusively in singles this morning.
Robinson’s last ball kicks from a length to hit Nawaz painfully on the bottom hand. That will really encourage England.
82nd over: Pakistan 252-5 (Shakeel 73, Nawaz 27) Crikey, Joe Root is coming back into the attack. “Jimmy Anderson or Joe Root with the new ball?” wonders Nasser Hussain on commentary.
Nawaz charges the last ball to hack Root through mid-on for four, an ugly but effective stroke. He has 27 from 32 balls, Shakeel 73 from 180.
“In a repeat of an email I sent to you in the 2006-07 Ashes about Freddie ‘Andrew’ Flintoff, if Ben Stokes were not captain, he’d be bowling now. (Not exactly now with the new ball, but you know what I mean.)
I do, although in this case there has been some talk that his knee isn’t up to another punishing spell. He hasn’t bowled at all in this match.
81st over: Pakistan 247-5 (Shakeel 72, Nawaz 23) England take the second new ball, and give it straight to Ollie Robinson. He has a couple of slips, and they are almost in business with Nawaz misses an airy drive outside off stump. Well bowled.
Drinks
80th over: Pakistan 246-5 (Shakeel 71, Nawaz 23) Nawaz waves Leach through extra cover for four, a beautiful stroke that moves him into the twenties. Pakistan need 109 runs to win.
79th over: Pakistan 239-5 (Shakeel 69, Nawaz 18) In fact, replays suggest that delivery from Leach bounced over Shakeel’s gloves, so he wouldn’t have been out even if Pope had taken it. It was given as runs.
Meanwhile, Shakeel misses an attempted pull off Wood and is hit on the body. I think he was beaten for lack of pace that time.
“Top of the morning from Naples,” says Colum Fordham. “Saud Shakeel is displaying impressive concentration in his fine innings. His short stature is helping him to react deftly to the variable bounce, especially when the ball keeps low. I think the new ball is definitely going to come into the equation, and could help Jack Leach as well as the quicks to test the Pakistani batsmen. Hats off to you for doing the OBO in spite of a lurgy.”
I’m being a bit of a drama king. It certainly doesn’t compare to the time I saw [redacted] calmly puke into the rubbish bin under his desk mid-OBO.
78th over: Pakistan 238-5 (Shakeel 68, Nawaz 18) Jack Leach comes on to replace Joe Root, who bowled a useful spell and took the wicket of Faheem Ashraf. That’s a good idea, to give him a couple of overs to settle before England take the second new ball.
The left-handed Shakeel, who barely played a shot against the offspinner Root, gloves a vigorous sweep down the leg side for four. That was a chance for Pope, albeit a very difficult one.
77th over: Pakistan 232-5 (Shakeel 63, Nawaz 17) Presumably Leach and Robinson will take the new ball when it becomes available. That allows Wood to empty the tank in this four-over spell, and he almost gets through Nawaz with another one that keeps very low. That’s a danger ball on this surface.
Since you asked so politely, Pakistan have scored 34 runs off 13 overs this morning.
76th over: Pakistan 231-5 (Shakeel 63, Nawaz 16) Nawaz enlivens a quiet passage of play by sweeping Root emphatically through midwicket for four. That was a fine, fast-handed stroke. A paddle for three off the last ball takes Nawaz to 16 off 15 balls, a useful little cameo with Shakeel largely strokeless at the other end.
75th over: Pakistan 222-5 (Shakeel 62, Nawaz 8) An awkward lifter from Wood is very well defended by Shakeel. Wood is doing extremely well to get any life out of this pitch, which is a bit of a spirit-crusher for pace bowlers.
74th over: Pakistan 220-5 (Shakeel 61, Nawaz 7) A better over for Pakistan, with four low-risk singles off Root. They need another 135 to win.
“Just a thought,” says Brian Withington, “but if Pakistan’s last five wickets were to exactly match England’s then we are in for a very interesting ride indeed with a mere 19-run winning margin after facing a score of 311 before the sixth wicket falls…”
73rd over: Pakistan 216-5 (Shakeel 59, Nawaz 5) Mark Wood replaces Jimmy Anderson (10-1-19-1). All the England quicks are bowling very straight, trying to maximise any uneven bounce, although Wood keeps Shakeel on his toes with a sharp bumper that flies through to Pope. “Take a bow Mark Wood,” says Mike Atherton on commentary, “getting one to bounce above the shoulder on this pitch.”
72nd over: Pakistan 215-5 (Shakeel 59, Nawaz 4) Shakeel tries to cut a ball from Root that keeps extremely low and ends up in the hends of Ollie Pope. England go up for caught behind, but the umpires isn’t interested. Replays confirm there was no edge, though it was a superb take from Pope.
Shakeel is going nowhere at the moment; he’s scored five from 24 balls this morning.
71st over: Pakistan 215-5 (Shakeel 59, Nawaz 4) Shakeel does well to defend a grubber from Anderson that has designs on his front pad. Then Nawaz gets off the mark with an edge through the vacant slip cordon for four. I don’t think it would have carried anyway. This is fascinating stuff.
70th over: Pakistan 210-5 (Shakeel 59, Nawaz 0) Meanwhile, given the time of day (in the UK), this is an interesting read. My sleep patterns are a disgrace, and not only when there’s cricket on in the wee hours, so I might give it a try.
WICKET! Pakistan 210-5 (Ashraf c Crawley b Root 10)A big breakthrough for England! Ashraf pushes with hard hands at a good delivery that curves in and then straightens to take the edge, and Zak Crawley takes a comfortable catch at slip. That’s Joe Root’s 50th Test wicket.
69th over: Pakistan 208-4 (Shakeel 58, Ashraf 9) A swinging half-volley from Anderson is crunched through mid-off for four by Ashraf, the first boundary of the day. So far so good for Pakistan.
68th over: Pakistan 203-4 (Shakeel 58, Ashraf 4) Saud Shakeel looks a really good players. This is only his second Test, but he has a striking first-class average of 53.
“Sorry to hear that you are not feeling too chipper, but kudos for still taking the reins of the OBO in the wee small hours,” says Brian Withington. “Let’s hope the cricket keeps you entertained if not compos mentis!”
I feel like Tony Sopranos at the start of Funhouse, though I should stress I’m not about to kill my best friend, and I can’t blame Artie’s shellfish.
67th over: Pakistan 201-4 (Shakeel 57, Ashraf 3) Ashraf punches a pleasant drive that is well fielded to his right by the bowler Anderson; then he defends a good one that keeps a bit low. It’s been a cagey start.
66th over: Pakistan 200-4 (Shakeel 56, Ashraf 3) It’s Joe Root from the other end. There’s a bit of turn, but it’s very slow, and Shakeel has plenty of time to wave a single behind square on the off side.
“In this Test we’ve had a beglassed bowler bowling to a similarly handsome batsman in Leach to Imam-ul-Haq,” says Tom Peach. “When was the last time this happened? Vettori to Sehwag?”
Did Sehwag wear glasses? That completely passed me by. I suppose I was distracted by the ball being slammed through point for four.
65th over: Pakistan 199-4 (Shakeel 55, Ashraf 3) We’re starting early to make up for lost time. Jimmy Anderson starts with no slips, two men on the drive and another at short midwicket. Everything is pitched up to invite the drive, but Shakeel and Ashraf politely decline for now. One from the over.
If Pakistan win it will be their second highest runchase in Tests, behind a fourth-innings romp at Pallekele in 2015. The last time England failed to defend a target of this size was on an emotional day at Mumbai in 2008.
A bit of news from Australia, where Pat Cummins and friends will be going toecrusher to toecrusher with South Africa’s pacemen in Brisbane at the weekend.
A pre-emptive apology
Over the last 24 hours I’ve caught something not entirely pleasant, and I’m not entirely cognisant of what day it is. Thus, please accept my apologies for what you’re about to read over the next few hours until Daniel takes over.
Ali Martin’s day three report
PreambleHello and welcome to live coverage of the fourth and final day of the second Test between Pakistan and England. It’s a simple race to the finish line: Pakistan need 157 runs to square the series, England need six wickets to win it with a match to spare. Shall we crack on?