‘We know Pakistan can crumble’: Ben Duckett sees hosts under pressure in 2nd Test
Multan: Ben Duckett’s blistering 114-run innings propelled England to 239/6 on Day 2 of the second Test match against Pakistan, despite England’s stumble in the third session.
Following the end of the day’s play, the Centurion referred to the host nation’s batting collapse in the third innings of the first Test match and claimed the pressure is on Pakistan with the game on a knife’s edge heading into Day 3.
“Whatever the state of the game we always believe we can go and win. The first session tomorrow is going to be huge. If we can bat for as much as we can and get close to their total I think we will actually be favourites. We know that they can crumble and so the pressure is over to them. We’re 1-0 up in the series, won the last series 3-0 and we know they’re going to fight to make it as hard as they can for us. But we always believe we’re in the game,” Duckett told Sky Sports.
Pakistan delivered a dramatic turnaround on day two of the second Test against England in Multan, clawing their way back into the match with a fiery spell of bowling that left the visitors reeling at 239 for 6 by stumps. Despite a dazzling century from opener Duckett, England’s once-dominant position crumbled in a blink, with Pakistan seizing control late in the day.
The catalyst for Pakistan’s resurgence was Sajid Khan, who turned the game on its head with a devastating spell of off-spin. Sajid claimed the key wickets of Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Ben Duckett, and Harry Brook in quick succession.
“If we can try and get as close as we can to their target, the game is going to move forward and it’s going to be a good game. We can look at how they bowled. The pace that their spinners bowled, they bowled maybe a fraction quicker. Every half an hour moving forward now, that pitch is getting older. It was a big toss and it didn’t do quite as much yesterday.
“We stuck to our guns and took 10 wickets. We know that the pitch is going to get harder to bat on. We are going to be batting last, so that morning tomorrow is going to be huge. Hopefully we can bowl like we did in the second innings of the first Test and try and get a bit of a collapse and hopefully we’ll be in for a good game,” said Duckett in the post-match interview.