Kevin Pietersen and Multan pitch. (Source – Twitter/X)
Pakistan and England locked horns in the first Test at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan on October 7. After winning the toss and opting to bat first, Abdullah Shafique and Shan Masood put up a 253-run stand for the second wicket on a flat track. Batting became relatively easy as the game progressed and bowlers could not contain the run flow with no aid from the pitch.
Former England cricketer, Kevin Pietersen, was taken by surprise looking at the Multan deck and termed it to be a bowler’s ‘graveyard’. Anyhow, England managed to crawl back into the game by removing Shafique in the 60th over and Masood followed suit by departing in the 63rd over. The duo, nevertheless, had done the damage scoring 102 and 151 respectively.
“That wicket in Multan – bowlers GRAVEYARD!” Pietersen tweeted.
Here’s Pietersen’s latest post –
That wicket in Multan – bowlers GRAVEYARD!
— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) October 7, 2024
We asked for a good cricket wicket: Masood
Pakistan are aiming for a comeback in the Test format after they were thwarted by the visiting Bangladesh by 2-0 in the recently concluded series. Ahead of the Multan Test, the news of the Pakistan team requesting a flat track was doing rounds. Masood, at the toss, confirmed the development and also added that the recent losses have hurt the morale of the team.
Also Read: Stokes uncertain for second Test against Pakistan in Multan
“We are going to have a bat. We asked for a good cricket wicket. Both teams are stacked with good batting line-ups. We have been in winning positions and not won from there, it has caused some hurt amongst the team and the cricket fraternity. We want to get back to winning ways and hopefully, these bunch of guys can do that,” said Masood at the toss.