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Brydon Carse takes the first Test wicket as England struggle to slow Pakistan's attack

Brydon Carse takes the first Test wicket as England struggle to slow Pakistan's attack

Centuries from Abdullah Shafique and Shan Masood ensured the hosts dominated the first day, but three wickets in the evening session and the arrival of the second new ball had raised hopes of a fightback.

By lunch on the second day, Pakistan had advanced to 397 for six, still in the box seat but less emphatic than on the first evening at 261 for one.

Saud Shakeel kept England's enthusiasm in check as a patient 67 not out, but Carse's dismissal of nightwatchman Naseem Shah and Jack Leach's dismissal of Mohammed Rizwan for a duck leveled things up.

England were frustrated in their first attempts, early attacks from Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson producing nothing more dramatic than a blow to Naseem's helmet, while there was no real turn of events to excite Shoaib Bashir or Leach.

The frustrating stand of 64 between Shakeel and Shah was largely controlled and settled, but occasionally picked up momentum when the latter decided to use his feet against the spinners.

He bounced around the field three times and left the ball on the ground six times, each hit painful for a team that had trusted to make short work of him.

Shakeel made it to fifty with a clean strike against Bashir, but was perhaps a little too composed against opponents who might have given up in the face of greater aggression.

As a result, the scoreboard had not completely disappeared from England when Carse, in his 19th over on his debut, finally opened his account.

Jack Leach celebrates the wicket of Mohammad Rizwan with his England teammates
Jack Leach dismissed Mohammad Rizwan for a duck (Anjum Naveed/AP)

He set about setting off a trap, caught up with Naseem, aimed at the hip and saw the ball flicked to Harry Brook on the leg slide.

His celebration betrayed a hint of fatigue, as the Durham fast player had expended a lot of energy trying to maintain a brisk pace, but it opened a door.

It was Rizwan who stumbled through and obliterated the platform with a 12-ball duck that ended with a wayward blitz to Leach that bounced up to mid-off.

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