The co-joined cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi are pretty contrasting places. With political buildings and diplomatic compounds spaced out along straight and orderly avenues, Islamabad, where the teams are staying, is the sleepier of the two; sleepier, certainly, than the bustling bazaars of ‘Pindi on the other side of the highway.
Although two years ago, the pitch in Rawalpindi was far more Islamabad by way of character. After Pakistan and Australia played out a soporific, unambitious draw that ended with the third innings still in progress at 250 for no loss, England opted to force the issue with their most compelling display of aggression to date. They ransacked 506 for four in 75 overs on day one and with it, bought enough time to pull off a remarkable away win on day five just minutes before sunset and the call to prayer.
But this time around, the surface baked during the buildup using patio heaters and industrial-sized fans, it was clear things would be more in keeping with the ground’s more hectic surroundings. Spin was on the menu and though Ben Stokes won a crucial toss, it was always going to be a case of whether England could stomach it. Had it not been for a pivotal 105-run stand between Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson, they would have been dyspeptic. As it was, Pakistan reaching 73 for three in reply to 267 all out, this decider was still evenly poised.
The traditional reflex to a collapse on the subcontinent such as England’s initial 118 for six is to mutter in grave tones about the pitch and stick the grubber that terminated Ben Duckett’s promising 52 on the top of the evidence pile. Although in terms of the latter, it is worth casting minds back to the first morning against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford during the summer when Dinesh Chandimal played back to a ball from Shoaib Bashir and was struck on the shin for a similarly cruel lbw. Such deliveries are suboptimal on day one but equally not exclusive to one part of the world.
And while it was a challenge out there as Sajid Khan and Noman Ali, another pair of contrasting characters, picked up where they left off in Multan, not every dismissal merited a rueful look at a surface that, being so slow, was far from a lottery. In a couple of cases, something of a hold appears to have developed, too. Zak Crawley fell to Noman for the third successive innings, likewise Ollie Pope at the hands of the more demonstrative Sajid. “No more Bazball,” quipped Mohammad Rizwan from behind the stumps as Harry Brook, triple-centurion in the first Test, struggled for a release shot and, much like Pope, fell trying to manufacture one with a sweep.
Striding out before lunch with the score 98 for five after Brook departed, and having watched events studiously from the balcony, Smith felt no such compulsion early on. And over the course of his sparkling 89 once again showed the class and composure that marks him out as a player of considerable promise. Victim to a couple of rash yahoos in the second Test, Smith was content to first take a look here, soaking up 32 balls for just nine runs and playing chiefly with a straight bat as he did so. Unlike a couple of colleagues higher up, the 24-year-old appeared to trust his defence.
In conjunction with Atkinson, that early graft, the softening ball, and the inevitable fatigue that set in for Noman and Sajid after 42 overs unbroken presented a chance to apply pressure in the other direction. It was Atkinson who flicked the switch initially, carting leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood for three fours in an over, and Smith who then hammered the point home. By the time Smith eventually fell 11 short of his century – a smart piece of work by Shan Masood, who put a man back straight and induced the riskier slog sweep – he had cleared the rope seven times. Perhaps this was revenge for his defeat in the six-hitting contest won by Rehan Ahmed 24 hours earlier.
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Either way, firefighting innings like this one are why England believed he would be an upgrade on Ben Foakes. After marshalling the lower order superbly with a century on debut in Galle six years ago, the best of Foakes with the bat thereafter came chiefly in partnerships with those higher up. The deciding moment was probably in Ranchi this year when, with England nine down and needing to flesh out India’s target for a sniff at levelling the series, he could only muster 12 runs in 12 painstaking overs.
Although things are set to change behind the stumps yet again come the tour of New Zealand that starts in late November, with Smith seemingly unlikely to feature due to the impending arrival of his first child and Jordan Cox slated to deputise. But if this week is Smith’s final outing of 2024 – a first year in Test cricket that has now returned a century and four more scores of 50 or more – performances like this one make it all the more likely he will slot straight back in. England, able to sleep easier back in Islamabad thanks to his efforts on day one, fancy they have found a keeper.
