Debut wicket for 18-year-old Ahmed; Pakistan 204-5 v England
Englands youngest-ever test debutant Rehan Ahmed picked up a wicket as Pakistan reached 204-5 at tea in the third and final test on Saturday.
Ahmed, at the age of 18 years, 126 days, had Saud Shakeel caught close to the wicket by a diving Ollie Pope for 23 in his seventh over. The bowlers father, Naeem, was among a sparse crowd at the National Stadium.
Ahmed (1-59) had a nervy start in his five overs before lunch as he bowled several full tosses and overpitched deliveries and went for 37 runs before he bowled a perfect legbreaker to Shakeel and got a thick inside edge. Mohammad Rizwan made 19 but fell to a poor shot as he tried to hit out against a low full toss from Joe Root and was smartly caught by skipper Ben Stokes at wide midwicket.
Captain Babar Azam was not out on 71 off 105 balls with Agha Salman unbeaten on 1 at tea on the first day.
England, looking for a rare 3-0 clean sweep in its first test tour to Pakistan in 17 years, had made early inroads after Babar won his first toss in the series and chose to bat on yet another dry wicket.
Azhar Ali fell for 45 in his farewell test match at the stroke of lunch after Ollie Robinsons short pitch delivery down the legside. Azhar, who announced his retirement from test cricket on Friday, was snapped up by wicketkeeper Ben Foakes and the television replays confirmed it was a clean catch.
England continued to experiment with its unconventional and aggressive style of play in test matches that saw them winning the first test by 74 runs at Rawalpindi on a flat wicket and the second test by 26 runs on a slow turning pitch at Multan.
Babar shared a 71-run stand with Azhar and dominated spinners before Robinson broke the threatening stand just before the first session as Pakistan reached 117-3.
England surprised Pakistan from the onset when spinner Jack Leach bowled an 11-over spell with the new ball. Leach featured in the dismissals of both openers before Azhar and Babar showed plenty of aggression against Ahmed. Lefthanded Shan Masood — one of the four changes Pakistan made from the last test scored a brisk 30 off 37 balls before he top-edged Mark Wood to fine leg midway into the first session. Masood, replacing injured Imam-ul-Haq up in the order, showed early aggression when he hit Leach for two successive boundaries to the onside in the left-armers first over before Leach took a smart catch in the deep.
Leach had earlier struck in his second over when he had Abdullah Shafique trapped leg before wicket for 8 in his third over with a new ball that skidded off the wicket and hit the batter on the front pad. Ahmed replaced James Anderson after the 40-year-old bowler was rested. Foakes, who missed the first test due to illness, came in place of Will Jacks. Ahmed is 23 days younger than Brian Close, who made his test debut against New Zealand at Manchester in 1949 at the age of 18 years, 149 days.
Azhar was recalled for his last test after being left out of the second test due to poor form. Azhar, playing in his 97th test, replaced allrounder Mohammad Nawaz.
Leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood, who took 12 wickets in two test matches, was dropped and left-arm spinner Nauman Ali made his first appearance of the series.
Pakistan, already without its key fast bowlers for the series because of injuries, awarded a test debut to Mohammad Wasim. The 21-year-old right-arm fast bowler replaced seamer Mohammad Ali.
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