Confident Pakistan brings down target to 174 in 1st Test

Pic credit- Pakistan cricket board official Instagram handle

Debutant left-hander Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan thwarted England's bold plans and reduced Pakistan's challenging target to 174 by lunch on the final day of the first Test on Monday.

Chasing 343 runs to win, Pakistan reached 169-3 at the break after fearless England's brave declaration at tea on the fourth day.

Shakeel was unbeaten on 63 while Rizwan, who took 45 minutes before scoring his first runs off the 24th ball he faced, reached 42 off the next 62 balls as England could take only the wicket of Imam-ul-Haq (48) through its attacking field settings.

England's recent aggressive approach to make five-day Test cricket more entertaining under the coaching of Brendon McCullum led to them racking up 657 and 264-7 declared on a flat Pindi Cricket Stadium wicket, with four of its top five batters smashing hundreds in the first innings.

Pakistan made 579 on the back of three centuries, but England took a gamble in hope of victory in its first Test in Pakistan in 17 years when declaring the second innings closed at tea on Sunday, giving Pakistan a full four sessions to achieve their target.

After Pakistan resumed Monday on 80-2, veteran James Anderson had Imam caught down the legside by wicketkeeper Ollie Pope in the day's sixth over as the left-hander tried to work the fast bowler off his hip.

Also read: Pakistan need 263 runs to beat England

Captain Ben Stokes dried up the runs with his attacking field settings, placing men close to Rizwan's bat on both sides of the wicket, before the batter accelerated against the spinners to help Pakistan make 89 runs in the day's first session.

Rizwan got off the mark with two boundaries against off-spinner Will Jacks and Shakeel completed his maiden test fifty in a more traditional Test-match style, off 104 balls, when he lofted over leftarm spinner Jack Leach for a straight four.

Stokes persisted with attacking fields but Rizwan changed gears in the latter half of the first session by smashing five fours and a six each against Leach and Jacks

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