England fought their way into a good position after the first day of the series-deciding third Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi, reducing their hosts to 73-3 after 266.

Jamie Smith’s brilliant 89 from 119 balls initially rescued England from a dangerous position of 118-6 after a collapse of four for 28 before lunch was quickly supplemented by the wicket of skipper Ben Stokes (12) shortly after the break.

In the evening session, Shoaib Bashir, Jack Leach and Gus Atkinson ensured a brilliant start to Pakistan’s first innings.

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Friday, October 25th, 5:50 a.m

The preparation of the Rawalpindi pitch was the subject of much discussion in the run-up to the Test, with Pakistan looking for a turning track similar to the used Multan surface on which they claimed victory a week ago to level the series.

The odd ball turned and a few hung low – particularly Ben Duckett (52), after a good half-century, was unlucky to fall to the left when he was hit about ankle high – but 267 seemed like a sub-par result his before England also took the lead ball in hand late in the day.

Stokes smiled giddily after winning the toss, knowing that Pakistan’s tireless efforts to create a worn surface could now work in his side’s favor, with his decision to bat first taking advantage of the opportunity to bat last throw, made it even more crucial.

Duckett and Zak Crawley (29) only added to England’s good mood when they added 56 for the first wicket in the first hour before the latter curled a loose drive to backward point off Noman Ali (3-88).

The badly out-of-form Ollie Pope overcame all his problems in the series with a nervy and jagged 14-ball 3 before losing lbw to Sajid Khan (6-128), the first of his six wickets in the innings – and the first of two in successive overs to trigger a top-order collapse.

Joe Root (5) also fell to the off-spinner, a sharp turner who trapped England’s star batter lbw on the back foot, while Duckett left the field shortly after his 12th Test 50 and Sajid’s Harry Brook (5) for his Legs were thrown while sweeping.

Stokes became Sajid’s fourth victim when he caught a slip just after lunch, but far from calming down as the afternoon session progressed, Smith and Gus Atkinson brought England back into the game with a sensational 105-run stand for the seventh wicket .

Atkinson smashed three fours against a Zahid Mahmood, but it was Smith who generally played the role of attacker, capturing the straight boundaries to great effect from Pakistan’s spinners, clearing the ropes six times and adding five boundaries.

The century finally ended in somewhat tame fashion as Atkinson played a return catch back to Noman, while Smith tipped Zahir (1-44) to a second Test ton with 11 seconds left as he for once went for a slog sweep rather than on a slog sweep hit straight away and it proved to be his downfall.

The tail offered little resistance beyond the tea break and Sajid completed the innings with his six while Pakistan responded with the bat.

Bashir (1-29) struck first for England, catching Abdullah Shafique (14) lbw, while Leach (1-33) added his opening partner Saim Ayub (19), before Atkinson (1-2) added second Test centurion Kamran Bowled Ghulam (3) shot through the net with a beautiful goal, reducing Pakistan to 46-3.

England were actually rewarded with a few more wickets on the field, but a few odd decisions from umpire Sharfuddoula were correctly overturned on DRS, with none of the appeals for close-in catches off Ayub on 13 and Saud Shakeel on 13 The racket was discovered on January 1st.

Instead, Shakeel (16 no) and his captain Shan Masood (16 no) live to fight another day, with the Test and series well balanced heading into day two.

First test: Multan – 7th-11th October – England won by an innings and 47 runs

Second test: Multan – 15th-19th October – Pakistan won by 152 runs

Third test: Rawalpindi – 24-28 October

Watch the second day of the second Test between Pakistan and England in Rawalpindi, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event on Friday from 5.50am, pre-match from 6am. Stream with NOW