Pakistan vs England: Men’s third cricket test, day one – live | Pakistan vs England 2024

You shouldn’t be at work in bed?

Hello and welcome to Rawalpindi, on a sofa in south London, to the crucial Test match between Pakistan and England. It’s one test per person and all at stake as both sides look to secure a series win that would mean a lot.

Shan Masood’s Pakistan side are experiencing their own chaos but managed to close out the series with a rousing victory in the second Test in Multan. The victory ended a run of defeats in six Tests and gave them a taste of a path forward, if not a sustainable plan for success. They have named an unchanged team and ordered a Rotor fan-backed deck that they hope will ultimately collapse their spinners’ form for the second year in a row.

For Ben Stokes’ England side, it’s a chance to double their series win in Pakistan two years ago and leave the subcontinent (where they won’t return until 2027) with an overall win ratio of 6-5. They have fond memories of Rawalpindi, particularly the first day when they were last there, they scored 506 for 4 in 75 overs and four of the men playing today – Crawley, Duckett, Pope and Brook – scored centuries before that Bowlers set out to score twenty wickets on a pitch with less life than Mars.

You want subplots? This match has them in abundance. We’ll get into all of this and more in the coming hours. The game is scheduled to start at 6am BST and I will bring news of the all-important litter shortly. When you tune in, write us a message as usual. This one promises to be a blast.