MULTAN: Opener Saim Ayub and debutant Kamran Ghulam on Tuesday held their ground on the first day of the second Test at the Multan Cricket Stadium pushing the score to 79-2 at lunch following early blows.

Saim was batting on 40* having raised 60 runs with Kamran (29*) after Jack Leach struck twice dismissing opener Abdullah Shafique (7) and skipper Shan Masood (3).

After five overs of seam bowling, England captain Ben Stokes opted for spin from both ends and the decision paid off immediately.

Leach beat Abdullah's tentative prod and uprooted the off-stump to dismiss the opener for seven.

In his next over the left-arm spinner dismissed Shan getting him to flick a delivery from outside the off-stump into the hand of Zak Crawley at short mid-wicket.

With Pakistan in trouble, Kamran walked in for his first test but the right-hander showed no nerves as he stepped out against Leach hitting the spinner over his head for a big six.

England were bolstered by the return of Stokes, who missed their comprehensive victory in the opening test at the same venue to complete his recovery from a hamstring injury.

Stung by the innings defeat, Pakistan have dropped out-of-form batter Babar Azam and frontline pacers Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah.

Earlier in the day, the Green Shirts won the toss and opted to bat first as they look to level the series following their loss in the first Test in the three-match series.

Playing XIs

Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (captain), Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan and Zahid Mehmood

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wk), Brydon Carse, Matt Potts, Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir