New Delhi: England bundled out for 267 runs in the opening day of the third Test match against Pakistan at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Zak Crawly and Ben Duckett stitched a 56-run partnership for the first wicket after Ben Stokes opted to bat first on a dry pitch.
Duckett scored a brilliant half-century but England’s middle order failed to contribute in the match. Joe Root, Ollie Pope and Harry Brook lost their wickets on the single-digit score. Sajid Khan removed England’s skipper Stokes on 12 runs. But Jamie Smith batted brilliantly and scored 89 runs off 119 balls with the help of five boundaries and six maximums.
He stitched a crucial 107-run partnership with Gus Atkinson and helped England to post a good total in the first innings. Sajid Khan took 6 wickets and Noman Ali picked up 3 wickets. After the match, Jaime Smith said that he was pleased with his performance and his contribution also allowed England to post a pretty decent score in the first innings.
“I think I’d say I’m pleased again. I stuck to my guns last game trying to be really positive, and it probably didn’t quite come off the way I’d have liked it to. So, to come out here, put that performance in and allow us to press on to a pretty decent score on this wicket, I’m pretty pleased” Jamie Smith said on Sky Sports after Day 1’s play in Rawalpindi.
‘3rd Test will be decided by small margins’: Jamie Smith
Pakistan also lost three wickets on 73 runs at the end of Day 1’s play. Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub and Kamran Ghulam all failed to contribute in the first innings as Jack Leach, Gus Atkinson and Shoaib Bashir picked up one wicket each. Jamie Smith further added that the last match will be decided by small margins.
“This game will absolutely be decided by small margins. When you don’t have a massive first innings score of 400, any lead you can get might count as double, especially with the low bounce as the game goes on. That is going to make it harder to score” Smith added.
