England 239 for 6 (Duckett 114, Root 34) trail Pakistan 366 (Ghulam 118, Ayub 77, Leach 4-114) by 127 runs

Slowly, slowly … and then with the snap of resolve that vindicated every one of their seemingly half-baked plans, Pakistan roared into command in the second Test at Multan, transforming another day of dominant England batting with a trademark surge of wickets, the likes of which had eluded them throughout their dismal run of six Test losses in a row.

By the close, England were on the ropes at 239 for 6, still trailing by a substantial 127 despite battling hard to bowl their opponents out for 366 shortly after lunch. This was in spite of a brilliant fourth Test hundred from Ben Duckett that had, at one stage, been almost contemptuous in its dominance.

After 12 overs, England had been hurtling along to 73 for 0. Midway through the 42nd, they were still bubbling nicely at 211 for 2, even after Sajid Khan's ripper through the gate to Ollie Pope had hinted that this re-used surface was just beginning to heat up after seven days of action.

But 18 balls later still, their castle had crumbled to the tune of four wickets for 14 runs, with Sajid's extraction of Joe Root - currently riding at a career-best high in the ICC rankings - being the moment that belief surged back into Pakistan's cricket. If there was an element of good fortune in the ricocheting sweep shot that cannoned into Root's off stump for 34, what followed might as well have been transcribed directly from the fever dream that had doubled as Pakistan's pre-Test selection meeting.

With the first ball of his next over, Sajid found another ripper that fizzed off Duckett's outside edge to nestle in Salman Agha's midriff at slip. Before the over was finished, he had the dangerous Harry Brook too, who had thumped the legspinner Zahid Mahmood for two ominously emphatic fours in his brief stay but had no answer to a fizzing offbreak that fizzed into his stumps from a full length.

Then, with Zahid put out to pasture once more, back came Sajid's fellow fingerspinner, Noman Ali, whose second-ball ripper bit into Ben Stokes' inside edge and ballooned to short leg, to extract the England captain for 1 from five balls in his first competitive innings since August. Jamie Smith and Brydon Carse endured to the close, but with the surface only heading in one direction now, parity is surely a pre-requisite if this match is not to slide further out of England's control.

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