England battling in face of huge Pakistan total

MULTAN, Pakistan, Oct 08 (AFP): England finished the second day of the first Test in Multan on a solid 96-1 on Tuesday in reply to Pakistan's mammoth 556 that was boosted by a fiery century from Agha Salman.
The tourists lost stand-in skipper Ollie Pope for a second-ball duck before Zak Crawley and Joe Root steadied the innings with 64 and 32 respectively at stumps.
It was another tough day for bowlers as an unbeaten 104 from Salman and 82 by Saud Shakeel swelled Pakistan's total, which was set up by Shan Masood's 151 and Abdullah Shafique's 102 on Monday.
Pope, standing in for injured skipper Ben Stokes, was smartly caught by a leaping Aamer Jamal who plucked an uppish pull shot off pacer Naseem Shah with one hand at mid-wicket.
He had been drafted in to open the batting after Ben Duckett injured his left thumb taking a catch at the end of the Pakistan innings.
England need another 261 to avoid a follow-on -- a task eminently possible on a pitch offering no help to bowlers.
Salman built on the good work of Shakeel and Naseem in the afternoon, reaching his third century with a single off spinner Jack Leach soon after tea interval.
Salman, who also completed 1,000 Test runs during this knock when he reached 71, added a rapid 85 for the ninth wicket with Shaheen Shah Afridi, who scored 26.