RAWALPINDI: Pakistan openers Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq both completed centuries against England Saturday as a flat Rawalpindi Stadium pitch continued to yield runs on the third day of the first Test.
Pakistan started the day on 181 without loss in reply to England’s mammoth 657, needing 458 to avoid the follow-on.
Shafique, 89 overnight, was the first to three figures with a six and a sharp single off Joe Root, while Haq, who started the session on 90, followed with a boundary off the same bowler.
They both now have three Test centuries and successive hundreds at the venue, having also reached three figures against Australia in March this year.
Haq scored a ton in both innings against Australia, while Shafique scored a century in the second.
The Rawalpindi pitch has been heavily criticised, with Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ramiz Raja calling it a relic of “the dark ages”.
Raja, a former national captain, said he was “not happy at all” over the state of the pitch, which he admitted was “not a great advert” for Test cricket.
“We live in the dark ages of pitches in Pakistan,” he told reporters, adding, “it’s embarrassing for us, especially if you have a cricketer as chairman.”
On the same pitch in March this year, some 1,187 runs were scored for the loss of just 14 wickets as Pakistan and Australia played out a tame draw.
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