Pakistan bowled out for 304 in opening day of Karachi Test

On the opening day of the third and final Test of the series at Karachi's National Stadium on Saturday, England dismissed Pakistan for 304 with Babar Azam and Agha Salman scoring stubborn half-centuries.

Babar scored an outstanding 78 runs at the top, while Salman Agha added 56 runs later in the innings to help them set a decent total despite wickets falling around them.

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After Zak Crawley was caught in front of the wicket for a duck in Abrar Ahmed's first over, England were 7-1 at the time of stumps with Ben Duckett (4) and Ollie Pope (3) batting together.

Pakistan, who had previously lost the series in Rawalpindi and Multan, won the toss and elected to bat on another flat pitch. However, the hosts were shaken by England, who made early gains in the first session in an attempt to sweep the match.

Jack Leach (4-140) first dismissed Abdullah Shafique with the new ball and then grabbed the catch that sent back Shan Masood off the bowling of Mark Wood, leaving Pakistan at 46-2 after 13 overs before Azhar Ali stabilised the situation.

Azhar Ali, who announced his retirement from international cricket after the Karachi Test made 45 runs in the company of Babar before being out on the stroke of lunch.

Saud Shakeel was caught for 23 by 18-year-old debut all-rounder Rehan Ahmed, who became England's youngest male Test cricketer.

"The day before, Ben Stokes called me to his room with Baz (coach Brendon McCullum) and told me I was making my debut. I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat. I didn't expect to play," Rehan who finished with figures of 2-89, told Sky Sports.

"I think I rushed a little bit at first. It came out better than expected though. I know I got (hit for) a few boundaries. Stokes said to me 'I don't care about runs, I care about wickets' and in the second spell I got some wickets."

Babar, whose 123-ball innings included nine fours, battled after part-timer Joe Root removed Mohammad Rizwan.

Pakistan's situation worsened further when the captain was run out while attempting a single after reaching fifty.

Faheem Ashraf and Nauman Ali next fell to Rehan and Leach, but Salman held the fort and was rewarded with his second fifty of the series before falling to Leach late in the day.

England clinched their first series victory in Pakistan since 2000-01 by claiming the first Test by 74 runs and the second by 26 runs to win the series.

Interesting third session for both teams, Abrar gets Crawley for a duck 🙌

Score card: https://t.co/8z3Wfuv1To#PAKvENG pic.twitter.com/cYV9KULFlR

— Cricket Pakistan (@cricketpakcompk) December 17, 2022