England Wicket-Keeper Warns Teammates About Rawalpindi Wicket

England batter Jamie Smith has warned his teammates that the much-speculated Rawalpindi wicket will only get worse after 13 wickets tumbled on a chaotic first day of the final Test.

“I can only see it getting worse from here” replied Jamie when asked about the playing conditions which suited the home team’s spinners once again. The wicket-keeper batter believes the decisive third Test, and the series itself will come down to “small margins”.

The 24-year-old was the only Englishman able to counter Pakistan’s spin barrage scoring 89 of his side’s 276 runs courtesy of six 6s and five 4s but admitted that “It was more luck than judgment with some of those,”. Nevertheless, he lifted his side from dire straits at 98 for five and 118 for six, managing to help them get to a par-score.

Smith was pleased with his side’s progress, “The low bounce is only going to make it harder. I can’t see it bouncing more—it’s only going to get lower. When you know the pitch is going to deteriorate, every first-innings run becomes vital”. He used Duckett’s dismissal to hammer home his point about the ball keeping low and warned his teammates of a repeat in the second innings.

With the Rawalpindi wicket expected to deteriorate over the coming days of the final Test, England could look back at Jamie Smith’s knock as the turning point in the game.