They shared 109 but Lees, who was dropped first ball, never looked comfortable. The situation was not dissimilar to the final innings of England’s most recent series, against South Africa at the Oval in September, when Crawley and Alex Lees were asked to chase 130. Contributing here was timely for Crawley, bringing him a decent series average of 39 and ensuring he did not fall away after a fine hundred like he did in the Caribbean in March. Eventually Abrar got him for the third time in four innings (he ran him out in the fourth) Crawley is likely grateful Abrar did not debut in Rawalpindi. He looks so comfortable when a target is in sight. The first of Crawley’s seven boundaries came first ball, when he flicked Brar Ahmed through long-on. When the light meter was first brought out, Duckett had playfully tried to hide it from the umpire. Stokes followed him, looking to slog (and move ahead of Brendon McCullum to the top of Test cricket’s six-hitting list), but they were still 55 shy when stumps arrived, so there was no extra half-hour, or win in the dark in Karachi 2.0. Ahmed was promoted to No 3 to, in his words, “try to finish it tonight”. They threw everything at it, including Ben Stokes’ bat, which landed next to the square-leg umpire as he aimed an almighty heave. They did not succeed but have put themselves in a position to complete a famous whitewash on Tuesday. The chase on Monday evening was 17 madcap overs as England tried to pull off a three-day win to follow a four-day win that followed a five-day win. In each Test, their openers, especially Duckett, have played a significant role. Unearthing an opening pair that looks as promising as this is a significant moment for England, and a long time coming. But this has been a tour of progress and, notably history-makers Harry Brook and Rehan Ahmed. Joe Root has had a quiet tour, and Liam Livingstone played only a walk-on role. It is hard to think of an England player who will leave Pakistan this week with his reputation diminished. Rather than setting up a first victory in Rawalpindi with a stand of 233 from 214 balls, here they were taking England to the brink of a third in Karachi with 87 from 69. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett’s final partnership of the series was in the same hurried spirit as their first.
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