Jamie Smith felt his six-hitting exploits helped “change the momentum” after a stuttering start in England’s series decider against Pakistan.
The tourists were prone to throwing the sport away on day one in Rawalpindi, slipping to 118 for six after selecting to bat first, but Smith’s counter-attacking flurry from number seven put them back on a fair keel.
On a spicy turning surface that saw spinners take 12 of the 13 wickets to fall, Smith found a technique to return fire as he made a dashing 89.
The wicketkeeper rained down six sixes and five fours as he launched a vital counter-attack within the afternoon session, lifting England to 267 before Pakistan managed 73 for 3 in response.
He admitted England were surprised by how much assistance there was from a pitch in the primary innings of this third Test but enjoyed the challenge of putting pressure back on the bowlers.
Alien Conditions
“People didn’t quite know what to anticipate from that surface. Loads of people have been saying it never spins in Rawalpindi but we weren’t quite sure,” Smith said.
“It’s quite good to face alien conditions, that’s why you want coming away to places like this and experiencing various things. You ask yourself, ‘how can we alter something?’, how can we try to vary the momentum of the sport and dictate terms just a little bit going into the back end of our innings.
“It was more luck than judgement on a few of those sixes. On one other day one in every of those goes handy, but thankfully it was my day. That’s the best way I wish to play my cricket.”
England’s bowlers made good on Smith’s recovery job, Shoaib Bashir and Jack Leach taking good care of the Pakistan openers before Gus Atkinson landed a belated blow for the seamers’ union with one other late breakthrough.
With the occasional ball shooting through at shin height, cracks in evidence and puffs of dust appearing usually, Smith believes batting could get even harder as the sport wears on.
Every Run Crucial
“Every first-innings run was vital,” he said.
“Those runs are necessary whenever you bat first in an innings like that and you’re feeling the pitch goes to deteriorate as the sport goes on.
“I can only see it getting just a little bit worse from here, especially with the low bounce and just a little little bit of turn. The bounce will only make it harder as the sport goes on, it’s only going to get lower.”
Former England bowler Steven Finn raised an eyebrow at the standard of the wicket, which had been aggressively dried, baked and even raked by groundstaff in an try and suit Pakistan’s spinners.
“I felt the pitch would play higher than it did in the beginning of the day. The primary ball turned down the leg side and we just checked out one another,” he told BBC’s Test Match Special.
“When Ben Duckett got one which rolled along the ground it sent the spooks through England. It has not been a fantastic first-day wicket. I imagine the match referee will have a look at it.”
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