Saud Shakeel completed an unbeaten double century to give Pakistan the lead in the third day of the goal test at the Stamps.
Shaq finished a double hundred alongside No. 11 Abral Ahmed and went unbeaten on 208 when the last wicket fell. Pakistan took a decisive lead with 149 runs and could become decisive as the Test progresses.
The Pakistani midfielder started the run with 69* and continued his visitor recovery from 101/5. The pair trailed by 278 points when Aga Salman dropped to 83, but Shakir continued to play for Pakistan.
His double century is the 45th by a Pakistani batsman in Test cricket and only the second in the last seven years. Abid Ali scored 215* against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2021.
Shakir became the second Pakistani batsman to score in his first friendly, two centuries apart.
The left-handed pitcher had a great start to his Test career, with his lowest record of 22 in 11 innings. He has already scored 94 goals in the second friendly against England at Multan, and scored his first 100 in the match against New Zealand earlier this year.
Shaquille’s batting average after Pakistan’s first inning in goals was a staggering 98.5, the highest since Sir Donald Bradman hit more than 10 times in a Test.
He has already surpassed team-mate Abdullah Shafiq’s exceptional start in Test cricket. In his first 11 Test innings, Shaqir led a Pakistani hitter with 788 RBIs, ahead of Shafiq and Javed Meandad, who had 720 and 654 RBIs respectively. Overall, he was the only batsman to score more than that in his 11 Test innings in the first.
Shaquille’s double barrel puts Pakistan in a good position to end a six-test win streak. Their last Test cricket victory was against Sri Lanka at that very venue in 2022.
