Abrar Ahmed’s debut five wickets on England’s first day of the second Test in Multan mesmerized the visitors.
The 24-year-old, dubbed “Harry Potter” by pals for his glasses, made magic after England won the toss and batted on a shifting pitch.
In the first two hours, he dismissed Zak Crawley (19), Ben Duckett (63) and Joe Root (8), then Ollie Pope (60) and Harry Brook (9).
Ahmed is the 13th Pakistani bowler to take 5+ wickets on debut.
After Friday prayers, Ben Stokes and Will Jacks had 14 and 0 at the interval.
In the first Test, England scored 174-0 by noon on the first day.
Despite losing wickets often, England scored quickly, with Duckett hitting nine boundaries and Pope five.
Babar Azam used to spin in the ninth over, and Ahmed bowled Crawley with his fifth Test ball.
He trapped Duckett and Root leg-before, but Azam overturned both calls.
Pope and Brook’s misfired shots gave Ahmed 167-5.
Pakistan included three spinners after paceman Naseem Shah was ruled out with a shoulder injury.
Shaheen Shah Afridi misses the series after appendix surgery, and subsequent ailments have forced three replacements, and Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, and Azhar Ali are out of form as well. Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, and Abrar Ahmed have replaced them.
England won the initial test in Rawalpindi by 74 runs.
The final test is on Dec. 17 in Karachi.
I am not a magician,’ debutant Abrar Ahmed says after dominating England. What glory on the debut match.
My favorite wicket is Ben Stokes, even though Ben is my favorite player
Kudos! I Pakistan team for finding this young kid who resembles like Harry Potter.