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Captain Shan Masood and opener Abdullah Shafique scored half-centuries to guide Pakistan to 122-1 on the opening day of the first Test against England on Monday lunchtime.
After winning the toss on a greenish-looking pitch, Pakistan batted first and lost opener Saim Ayub for four before Masood, on 61 not out, and Shafique, unbeaten on 53, steadied the innings at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
England took a wicket in the fourth over when fast bowler Gus Atkinson forced Ayub to pass a shorter ball down the leg side to wicketkeeper Jamie Smith, making the total eight.
The visitors thought they had a second wicket when pace bowler Brydon Carse, on his debut, took Masood ahead on the 16th and umpire Kumar Dharmasena gave out the captain lbw.
However, a check revealed that the ball had landed outside leg stump.
Masood went on the attack against Shoaib Bashir, hitting the off-spinner for four boundaries before two more from Atkinson took him to his 11th Test fifty.
Shafique, who survived being bowled out on 34 when Ollie Pope’s jump shot missed the stumps while the batsman was close to his ground, smashed two fours and a six off Bashir to reach his sixth Test half-century.
In total, Shafique hit five fours and a six and Masood hit seven fours.
Both teams have selected three fast bowlers and two spinners in the hope that the pitch will provide new ball support to the seamers before they get spin later in the game.
sh/ecl/dh
