Abrar Ahmed had a debut to remember as he took 7 wickets in the very first innings to help Pakistan bowl out England for 281 runs one day 1 in Multan.
The 24-year-old spinner finished with figures of 22-1-114-7 having completed his five-her before lunch with wickets of Zak Crawley (19), Ben Duckett (63), Joe Root (8), Ollie Pope (60) and Harry Brook (9) before adding the names of Ben Stokes (30) and Will Jacks (31) after the first session.
Zahid Mehmood accounted for the rest of the three wickets of Jack Leach (0), James Anderson (7) and Ollie Robinson (5).
Ben Stokes chose to bat after winning the toss once again and his side came out with the same aggressive approach as in the previous game.
With Crawley and Duckett again building a partnership (38 off 53 balls) and easily taking runs off Pakistan’s opening pair Mohammad Ali and Faheem Ashraf, Babar Azam threw the debuting Abrar to the deep end and he took just five balls to remove Crawley for his first international wicket.
England, though, continued with their approach and managed to build several stands which Abrar kept breaking despite going for a few boundaries himself.
With the wicket aiding the spinners, Pakistan’s decision to play the debutant was vindicated after his performance.
Pakistan will be hoping that Abrar Ahmed can replicate the same form against England when his number is called again in the second innings, especially with the absence of Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah.
