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39th over: England 155-5 (Brook 46, Stokes 1) Three singles off Zahid: So far, great.
38th over: England 155-5 (Brook 44, Stokes 0) Tie-breakers can change the mood and Pakistan have a sniff now. England lead by 234 runs but will need just one more wicket to drop down the order, and Stokes is so keen to practice what he preaches that he could be caught in the deep for 16 off ten balls. His general approach has been a breath of fresh air, but if, in this case, he could bring his white-ball persona – much more calm and cunning – he would do his team a favour. Starts promisingly with a defensive push for no run.
Wicket! Pope run out (Nawaz) 4 (England 155-5)
Another! And another bad streak when Pope, like Crawley before him, is set in motion by a simple kamikaze. Unlike Crawley, he is sent back, rightly so, but not very quickly, and all Nawaz needs to do at cover is be alert to send him on his way.
37th over: England 155-4 (Brook 44, Pope 4) One of the most striking features of Stokes’ team is that when they lose a wicket, they keep going regardless. Zahid is allowed just one run in this over as the batsmen take four singles and then a hard two, cut by Brook on the sweeper.
36th over: England 149-4 (Brook 40, Pope 2) Here’s Ollie Pope, back in his old haunt at No.6 as he was given a rest after making runs and keeping wicket. Starts positively, getting into the crease to work the ball for two. But the story of the last over is Abrar, completing his ten-wicket haul, dismissing England’s best batsman in this match and sparing the blushes of his captain, Babar, who had dropped Duckett a few minutes earlier.
WICKET! Duckett b Open 79 (England 147-4)
A short ball stays low, Duckett pulls and misses, and Abrar gets his ten for! Not his best performance, but what a debut performance.
35th over: England 143-3 (Duckett 75, Brook 40) Zahid also bats, smashing a leg break past Brook’s outside edge, but only after leaking eight runs from the first five balls of his over. England’s run rate has finally reached four. It could go much higher if Pakistan can’t separate these two soon.
34th over: England 135-3 (Duckett 71, Brook 36) Brook is himself now and shows it by hitting Abrar for six! It’s the first of this innings, and he follows it up with a run of four, misguided but still powerful. After making four from his first 26 balls, Brook has 32 from his last 31. Abrar, unashamedly, bowls Duckett with a superb over.
Updated at 10.52 GMT
33rd over: England 124-3 (Duckett 71, Brook 25) Zahid continues and Nasser Hussain, on commentary, gives a little lecture to the younger viewers on how to play spin. “Duckett is good because he’s short. It’s easy to read the length when you’re short. Look at Brook, he’s tall, but he’s crouching against the spinner.
Duckett dropped by Babar!
32nd over: England 120-3 (Duckett 70, Brook 22) Duckett gets a bad ball from Abrar, a long hop, and is so surprised that he takes a bad shot, a mid-ass pull, straight to the crotch , where is Babar Azam. so surprised by these two developments that he drops an absolute girl. If his team didn’t already feel doomed, they will now.
31st over: England 119-3 (Duckett 69, Brook 22) Zahid leaks runs again. Duckett reverse sweeps him for two and then Brook pulls for four.
I have been collecting some correspondence from earlier. “Hi again Tanya,” wrote Rob Lewis after Pakistan collapsed. “Looks like Bazball has been vindicated and I have to eat humble pie…I predicted Stokes was wrong earlier. Oh you of little faith! Just goes to show there’s no fool like an old man and fortune favors the brave “. Don’t get down on yourself Rob – Stokes makes fools of us all at some point.
30th over: England 110-3 (Duckett 65, Brook 17) Abrar was changing sides, and he may be regretting it. Brook, who is growing in confidence now, not only reads a googly but then spots a ball that is just a tad short and cuts it late for four. This was root-like too, in a good way.
29th over: England 103-3 (Duckett 63, Brook 12) A change of bowling! And it is Abrar who takes a breather, although it may just be to change the ending. Zahid Mahmood comes in with his orthodox leg-spin and makes a respectable start, with three singles. But it already feels like Pakistan are going through the motions. Slip, short leg, fielding by numbers – Babar is a captain’s root, not a Stokes.
28th over: England 100-3 (Duckett 61, Brook 11) A decent lead from Nawaz, just two singles away, but the only faint whiff of danger came from a potential run-out. After Abrar, this may be Pakistan’s most powerful weapon.
“This match,” says John Starbuck, “might be over before lunch on the fourth, giving us all a chance to rest from sport for a few hours / do the laundry / send Christmas cards ( some of us still do).)/wrap presents etc.”
Updated at 10.29 GMT
Meanwhile, in Adelaide…
Scott ‘builds the man a statue’ Boland has started with a three-wicket maiden against the West Indies in Adelaide.
— Lawrence Booth (@the_topspin) December 10, 2022
27th over: England 98-3 (Duckett 60, Brook 10) No changes at the other end either, more understandable as Abrar picks up where he left off in the first innings. After stuttering to four balls of 26, Harry Brook finally finds his feet, giving Abrar the charge and drilling a drive straight to the rope.
26th over: England 91-3 (Duckett 59, Brook 4) Babar Azam, a beautiful batsman and a rather bland captain, needs a bright idea here but only keeps Nawaz with his slow and harmless left arm. Each batter grabs one while they digest their tea and biscuits.
A thought from Kim Thonger. “For all its positives, Bazball, for me, has a serious drawback. It has killed the notion of the brave British night watchman, defending his wicket to the death, rejecting the quick single, resolutely ignoring the slow long-hop of the outside leg, dodging keepers, with a firm jaw and a steely eye. I feel for Jack Leach, our most magnificent practitioner of the dark art. Never again will we see his misty glasses glinting in the setting sun- se? Spare a thought for him in this day and age when he might once have been our hero.”
Ha. He is still a cult figure. And Bazball has brought us the nighthawk, a role played in the summer by Stuart Broad, who is now back on TV in his latest role as the rather tentative young commissioner in The Vicar of Dibley.
Updated at 10.14 GMT
Tea: England comfortable
25th over: England 89-3 (Duckett 58, Brook 3) Duckett faces a single delivery again, this time taking three – without glove, when Abrar tricks him and the ball skips over the shoulder of Mohammad Rizwan. Brook plays Geoff Boycott’s role again, so he now has three balls for 22. And that’s tea, with Pakistan winning the session, but England still on course to win the match. They lead by 168 runs and Ben Duckett plays like the senior pro while Abrar Ahmed continues to take almost every wicket by himself. See you in 15 minutes – I’m off to get my long pants.
Updated at 10.19 GMT
24th over: England 86-3 (Duckett 55, Brook 3) Duckett takes a single off Nawaz’s first ball, which is just what Pakistan would like, so they can get to Brook. He keeps Nawaz out but can’t buy a run, even with those smooth slow left-armers. Three of 17 so far: May be dropped due to slow scoring.
23rd over: England 85-3 (Duckett 54, Brook 3) After tormenting one Yorkshireman with his mysteries, Abrar sets to work on another. Brook fails to read the googly, shapes to cut, finds the ball following it towards leg stump and is lucky to flick one over the inside edge.
22nd over: England 82-3 (Duckett 53, Brook 1) So England are a bit upset, are they? Duckett is joined by Harry Brook, the only player with more runs than him in this series. It characteristically swerves down the track and pushes to the outside.
21st over: England 81-3 (Duckett 52, Brook 1) So Abrar has his ninth wicket in the match, plus a direct knock: now that’s what I’d call a ten for. The decision went up to check it was a fair catch, but Root had already walked.
Wicket!! Root c Shafique b Abrar 21 (England 79-3)
Root sweeps… to short leg! Where Abdullah Shafique takes a wonderful catch as he had to detect that Root had not timed him at all and then darted to his left when he had been dancing to his right. That moment was all about the field, but Abrar deserved it after giving persistent trouble to Root, a big spin player.
Updated at 09.46 GMT
Fifty to Duckett!
20th over: England 78-2 (Duckett 50, Root 21) Duckett, facing Nawaz, goes for two to bring up the fifty pair, then sweeps a single to reach his second fifty of the match and the third in the series. He already has almost as many runs in these two Tests (220) as he collected in the T20 series before the World Cup (233). Whatever the format, he looks very comfortable in an England shirt now.
19th over: England 73-2 (Duckett 47, Root 19) Abrar troubles Root again with a ball that rushes and stays low. The slider, to my untrained eye. Where is Shane Warne when you need him?
18th over: England 70-2 (Duckett 46, Root 17) Root, who is caught by Nawaz, breaks free by moving towards the off stump and playing a nice four-run sweep.
“I missed the morning,” says Thomas Whiteley, “but I was surprised to see that England had taken all the remaining wickets. Is baseball really more about the bowling? All 10 wickets have been taken in 16 consecutive innings.” great place
17th over: England 63-2 (Duckett 44, Root 12) Abrar is giving Root trouble. He uses the excess spin for extra bounce and the ball goes off Root’s pad into his glove, only to fall short of the short leg man. That’s a maiden and another moral victory for Abrar.
Meanwhile, in Antigua…