Strong Starts from Shan Masood and Abdullah Shafique in Opening Day of Multan Test

During an aggressive phase of play, half-centuries from Shan Masood and Abdullah Shafique led Pakistan to 122 for 1 at Lunch on the opening day in Multan. Despite some support for the pacers early in the match, apart from Saim Ayub's dismissal, they could not cause significant damage in the morning session.

Choosing to bat, Saim Ayub's wicket fell in the fourth over, caught down the leg by Gus Atkinson. Pakistani batters had some difficulty initially, sporadically finding the outside edge of the bat or getting hit on the pads. Once the movement decreased, however, Shafique began to play shots, distributing the ball around the gaps neatly, including hitting three consecutive threes off Chris Woakes after the first half hour.

Masood took longer to get established, maintaining the fielders' attention by repeatedly guiding the ball into empty spaces. Brydon Carse even struck him on the pads, but through a review, Masood had the leg before decision reversed. After the drinks break, once spin was brought into the game, Masood started attacking Shoaib Bashir, stepping out against the off spinner, and launched a series of boundaries, completing his half-century in a mere 43 balls–his fastest in Test cricket.

Being more cautious, Shafique soon joined the action. In the second to the last over before Lunch, he danced down the track against Bashir, and then stayed backward, cutting both balls to the boundary. He ended the over by going down the track and lofting the delivery over long-on to hit a six and bring up his half-century.

At Lunch, the scoreboard read - Pakistan 122/1 (Shan Masood 61*, Abdullah Shafique 53*; Gus Atkinson 1-32) against England.