Twitter Reactions: England take driver's seat on second day as Pakistan lose plot after good start

England finished day two on a high note as they took a 281-runs lead in the second innings with Harry Brook (74*) and Ben Stokes (16*) on the crease. Earlier, Pakistan resumed the second day's proceedings at 107 and they trailed by 174 runs in the first innings. After a flurry of boundaries at the start of the day, Ollie Robinson got through the defences of Babar Azam, who made a valiant 75. Saud Shakeel reached the half-century mark and he looked set for a big score until Jack Leach’s spell changed the game. 

The English left-arm spinner picked up Shakeel (63), Mohammad Rizwan (10) and Mohammad Nawaz (1) in a short span, to send Pakistan on the backfoot. Agha Salman and Mohammad Ali were removed by the off-spin of Joe Root and Pakistan lost five wickets while adding just 11 runs during the period.  

Faheem Ashraf’s 22 off 31 balls helped Pakistan get to a decent score of 202 runs in 62.5 overs and their sudden collapse left the visitors taking a lead of 79 runs. Jack Leach was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 98 in his 27 overs while Mark Wood and Root scalped two wickets each.  

England tighten grip on Pakistan in final session

In the second innings, England suffered an early blow as Zak Crawley was dismissed after encountering an unfortunate run-out. Will Jacks' promotion to number three in the batting order did not work well for the visitors, while Root and Ben Duckett stitched a good partnership. Abrar was yet again among the wickets as he dismissed Root (21) on account of a fine catch in the short leg area.  

Harry Brook and Duckett played their usual game and played in an attacking style. The latter reached his half-century in the process as well. After a fine 79-run knock, Abrar cleaned up Duckett towards the end of the day while Ollie Pope was dismissed through another run-out. Stokes and Brook ensured no further wickets fell as they stitched a 47-run partnership before the end of day's play.

Here's how Twitter reacted to day two's play

When Babar got out Pakistan were going at 4.17 runs per over. Rizwan walks in & killed the entire momentum with 0* off 27 balls. We should still back him in tests, but he is the reason we collapsed today. #PAKvENG

— Haroon (@hazharoon) December 10, 2022

Undoubtedly Sarfaraz Ahmed should play the Karachi Test incase Mohammad Rizwan fails to score in the Multan Test. #PAKvENG

— Arfa Feroz Zake (@ArfaSays_) December 10, 2022

Rizwan being 0 off 27 contributed to Saud losing his wicket. Killed the whole momentum🤦‍♂️ #PAKvENG

— Haroon (@hazharoon) December 10, 2022

Rizwan After 100 against Australia in Karachi

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Sarfaraz to play Karachi Test? He last played a test in Jan 2019 and scored a fifty against South Africa in Johannesburg. pic.twitter.com/fEFM3JsNmz

— ٰImran Siddique (@imransiddique89) December 10, 2022

Its unfortunate we have Sarfaraz , Shan , Fawad who can tackle spin and can play sweeps shots but they are not in playing XI , The way we playing test cricket at home its look like the visiting team are our HOSTS.🤗#PakvsEng2022 #PakvsEng #UKSePK

— Usama speaks Cricket 🏏 (@LeoUsamaa) December 10, 2022

Pakistan Team is literally playing at home. Not for a second they have shown that they are playing at home.
Loser team 🤮#PakvsEng2022

— Usman Chaudhary (@usman_nym) December 10, 2022

To the management and captain their inner-self satisfaction is more important than the match, they made the team a frog for experimentation. WDK why Shan, Yasir and Sarfaraz are not playing. It's #EngBat_vs_Ibrar#PAKvENG #PakvsEng2022 #ENGvsPAK #AbrarAhmed

— Mansoor Ahmad Khan (@Mansoor48428271) December 10, 2022

There is no aggression and vision in this Pakistan team, they drop players so easily (like Hasan Ali & Shan masood) dont plan for the future and always play with a timid batting approach… #PAKvsENG #PakvsEng2022

— Wajsyed (@WajihaSyed15) December 10, 2022

We should never compare Faheem and Nawaz in tests. Faheem is far superior batsman and can do well on tough pitches. Nawaz should stick to white ball and it’s time we replace him with Zafar Gohar. Abrar and Zafar Gohar will bully teams on such turning tracks.

— Saad (@CricContent_) December 10, 2022

Pakistan have seriously lacked a bowler in this series who could do the holding job. Nawaz being a finger spinner, should have been able to do that role. Forget winning, it's difficult to get ahead in a Test with the kind of bowling attack that Pakistan have played.

— Gurkirat Singh Gill (@gurkiratsgill) December 10, 2022