England on the brink of historic series win in Pakistan

England on the brink of historic series win in Pakistan and need just 55 runs to seal a 3-0 whitewash… as Rehan Ahmed becomes the youngest player to take five wickets in an innings on debut with stunning display

• England are just 55 runs away from a clean sweep of their series with Pakistan
• Stokes’ men are on the brink of becoming the first time to win 3-0 in Pakistan 
• Leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed was the star of the show on day three as he took 5-48
• Ahmed is the youngest cricketer to take five wickets in an innings in his first test 

England are poised to end a remarkable year with one more remarkable win, after a historic five-for from teenage leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed paved the way for another helter-skelter run-chase on the third evening in Karachi.

At stumps, they had raced to 112 for two in just 17 overs, and need a further 55 to become the first side to win 3-0 in Pakistan.

Earlier, Ahmed became the youngest cricketer – at 18 years 129 days – to take five wickets in an innings in his first Test, as figures of five for 48 ensured a Pakistan collapse from 164 for three to 216 all out.

Rehan Ahmed became the youngest player to take five wickets in a test as he claimed 5-48

Ahmed’s introduction swung the day in favour of England and they are on the brink of victory

England’s openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett then set off in pursuit of 167 like men possessed. They started the chase at 4.15pm, and had an hour and a quarter to get the runs before darkness fell – outlandish, you might think, even by the standards of Bazball.

But Crawley pulled Abrar Ahmed’s first ball for four, then eased him through extra cover. In the next over, Duckett pulled and swept Nauman Ali’s left-arm spin for boundaries, and the 50 stand was soon coming up inside six overs.

By the time Abrar pinned Crawley on the sweep for a run-a-ball 41, England’s openers had knocked 87 off the target in just 11.2 overs.

Ben Stokes’ men need just 55 runs to seal an historic 3-0 series whitewash in Pakistan

With Stuart Broad on paternity leave, England ushered Ahmed out as their nightwatchman – or nighthawk, as they prefer. He lifted his first ball over mid-off for four, and had raced to 10 before missing a slog-sweep off Abrar.

Ben Stokes was the second promotion of the innings, coming in at No 4, and at one point tried to hit the ball so hard that his bat flew a good 30 yards towards the square-leg umpire.

By the time play ended at 5.30pm, Duckett had 50 off 38 and Stokes 10. Barring a meltdown of epic proportions, England’s ninth win out of 10 under Stokes should be completed before lunch tomorrow.

Stokes at one point lost his bat as he came to the crease desperate to claim victory on Wednesday

And they can reflect on a superb performance from their spinners on a surface that hasn’t turned quite as much the events of the first evening suggested it would.

At Rawalpindi and Multan, it was England’s seamers who finished off Pakistan’s two second innings. Here, armed for the first time in the series with a pair of frontline slow bowlers, England chose a different route.

The early damage was done by Jack Leach. After Pakistan openers Abdullah Shafique and Shan Masood had extended their overnight stand of 21 to 53, Leach bowled Masood for 24 as he dragged an ugly reverse sweep on to his leg stump.

Four balls later, Azhar Ali – playing his final Test innings in his 97th game – yorked himself as he advanced at Leach and was bowled for a valedictory duck. After shaking hands with England’s players, he was greeted by a guard of honour on the boundary by his team-mates.

Ben Duckett reached 50 off just 38 balls as England made a flying start to their pursuit of 167

But Pakistan barely had time to digest that when Leach pinned Shafique lbw for the second time in the match – his third wicket for no run in six balls.

For a while, Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel held England at bay, putting on 110 in 35 overs either side of lunch. But Stokes never lost control, and finally turned to Ahmed for his first bowl of the day shortly before 2pm.

The move took only 12 balls to pay off – though the long hop that Babar pulled to Ollie Pope at short midwicket was no contender for ball of the day. Babar, who made 54, could barely drag himself from the crease. And, not for the first time in this series, his demise presaged Pakistan’s.

Zak Crawley and Duckett flew out of the blocks and put on 87 for the first wicket in Karachi

Ahmed had Mohammad Rizwan caught behind off a leg-break for seven, then had Shakeel top-edging a sweep to Leach at backward square leg for 53 – giving him three for nine in 17 balls.

The middle session, just like the first, had yielded 78 runs and three wickets, leaving Pakistan 177 for six – just 127 ahead.

Faheem Ashraf aimed a lazy drive at Joe Root in the second over after the break and was caught by Ben Foakes for a single, before Mark Wood ended a useful eighth-wicket stand of 30 by trapping Nauman Ali leg-before on review.

The scene was set for Ahmed, and Pakistan obliged. Mohammad Wasim miscued his googly to mid-off, before Agha Salman top-edged another sweep to Harry Brook.

Ahmed dropped to his knees, as his father Naeem shed a tear up in the stands. When Ahmed led his team off the field, having become the sixth-youngest bowler in Test history to take a five-for, it was hard to imagine how father and son could possibly have felt prouder.

TOPSPIN AT THE TEST

Rehan Ahmed is the youngest debutant in Test history to take a five-for – at 18 years 129 days. Only five other younger bowlers have taken a five-wicket haul in a Test match, and none of them was a leg-spinner.

The previous youngest for England was Nottinghamshire left-arm seamer Bill Voce, who was 20 years 177 days against West Indies at Port of Spain in 1929-30.

If England win this game, it will be their first Test victory without either Stuart Broad or James Anderson since beating West Indies at Chester-le-Street in 2007. This is their 197th game in the meantime.

Three wickets for Jack Leach took him back to the top of the Test wicket-taking list for 2022 with 46 – one ahead of South African quick Kagiso Rabada and three clear of Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon. Australia host South Africa at Melbourne on Boxing Day.

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