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Salman Ali Agha has continued his strong start with the bat in Tests by scoring a brilliant unbeaten century in the ongoing first Pakistan vs England Test in Multan.
After centuries from Abdullah Shafique and captain Shan Masood put Pakistan in the driver’s seat on day one of the Test, Pakistan started the proceedings with the bat on 328/4 on day two. The hosts lost the wickets of Naseem Shah and Mohammad Rizwan in the first session. The twin dismissals saw Pakistan getting reduced to 393/6 from 388/4.
Salman Ali Agha came out to bat after Rizwan’s dismissal. From that point onwards, he led Pakistan’s charge with the bat. While Shakeel was out for 82 and Aamer Jamal scored only 7, Salman Ali Agha stood firm at his end.
He batted positively right from the start and did not let England claw their way back into the game. The right-handed batsman completed his fifty off 71 balls. After reaching his fifty, Salman Ali Agha shifted gears and started playing the big shots on a regular basis as he was running out of partners. He eventually reached his century off just 108 balls.
As the 30-year-old completed his third Test century, the entire Pakistan team gave him a standing ovation. Babar Azam and other Pakistan players as well as the coaches were on their feet, applauding Salman for yet another brilliant knock in Tests. It was his 3rd century in 15 Tests. Salman has also hit seven half-centuries so far.
Watch the moment Salman Ali Agha completed his century:
Salman Ali Agha reaches his THIRD Test match century 👏 pic.twitter.com/PLGg96KxHG
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) October 8, 2024
3 Test centuries in only 15 Tests for Agha Salman. Babar Azam is very happy for him, what a moment ❤️❤️❤️#PAKvENG #tapmad #DontStopStreaming pic.twitter.com/mIiH1341Zz
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) October 8, 2024
Pakistan were eventually bowled out for 556 runs and Salman remained unbeaten on 104 runs. His knock came off 119 balls and was studded with 10 fours and three sixes. At one stage, Pakistan were on 463/8 and the 500-run mark looked a bit tough for them.
However, Salman shared useful stands with the lower-order players to take his team to a 550-plus total. Masood top-scored for the home team after playing a brilliant knock of 151 runs on the opening day. Shafique, on the other hand, scored 102 while Shakeel scored 82 runs.
The game also marked the fourth instance of three Pakistan batsmen scoring a century against England in the same Test innings. They did it for the first time in the 1971 Birmingham Test before doing it against in 1987 at the Oval. In 2022 too, three Pakistan batters had scored a century in the same innings during the Rawalpindi Test.
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