“I’ve bowled 29 overs today so, if they go for two spinners, I’m ready to play,” said Panesar, whose last Test was in 2009. “I feel I’m getting better all the time as a spinner.”
Picking Panesar alongside Swann for the opening Test is not a fait accompli. Panesar succeeded on what was essentially a sixth-day pitch (combining the last three-day game, two days of this match and the day off between).
What should concern England is Swann’s limited threat. He has taken only four wickets in 54 overs, a return that in the dark old days of the 1980s would have made him vulnerable to the chop.
“Graeme is the No 1 spinner and he’ll play,” Panesar said. “If they look to play a second spinner, then I’m ready. But we’ve also got very skilful bowlers in our pacemen so we have many permutations.”
That point was amplified by Chris Tremlett, who bowled well for his two wickets, outperforming Graham Onions despite being asked to bowl his opening spell into a minor sandstorm, whipped up by strong morning winds.
In the spirit of these three-day games, the PCB XI declared their innings, allowing Strauss and Jonathan Trott to bat out the final session. Given a chance to start against pace and not spin, Trott responded with an unbeaten 39 as they extended England’s lead to 151 going into the final day.
Scoreboard:
England 1st innings: 269-9 decl (A. Cook 133, M. Prior 46; Yasir Shah 5-75, Mohammad Talha 4-43)
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PCB XI 1st innings:
- Nasir Jamshed lbw b Onions 12
- Afaq Raheem lbw b Tremlett 17
- Mohammad Ayub c Prior b Panesar 33
- Usman Salahuddin c Prior b Tremlett 23
- Fawad Alam c Strauss b Panesar 7
- Haris Sohail lbw b Panesar 6
- Sarfraz Ahmed c Trott b Swann 0
- Yasir Shah c Swann b Panesar 9
- Mohammad Talha c Prior b Panesar 31
- Mohammad Khalil not out 1
Extras: (b3, lb6, w2) 11
Total: (for nine wkts) 200
Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Jamshed), 2-40 (Raheem), 3-78 (Salahuddin), 4-91 (Alam), 5-106 (Sohail), 6-106 (Sarfraz), 7-110 (Ayub), 8-119 (Shah), 9-173 (Talha)
Bowling: Onions 13-3-52-1 (w2), Tremlett 14-7-30-2, Swann 18-5-42-1, Panesar 29-12-57-5, Petersen 5-0-10-0
Overs: 79
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England 2nd innings:
Extras: (b4, nb2, w1) 7
Total: (for no loss) 82
Bowling: Talha 6-1-32-0 (nb2, w1), Khalil 5-2-12-0, Hasan 7-0-26-0, Shah 3-0-5-0, Ayub 1-0-3-0
Overs: 22